Carlton Lassiter Meets a New Friend
by pineapple-dalek
Summary: When life gets overwhelming, what does Carlton Lassiter do? Go to the gun range or drink. Who knew that a simple night of drinking would turn his whole life upside down? Lassie-centric! Set after Ep 5x16.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER****:**I'm not associated with Psych in anyway shape or form and only own my ideas.

Now that that's out of the way...

Hi! Here is my 3rd completed story! I had a lot of fun writing (most of) this story. It starts a whole series that will have at least 3 stories, possibly a forth in the form of a crossover with a QL series I'm writing. But I'm getting way ahead of myself since I haven't even completed the 2nd story of this series and am only on 1 of 4 of the other one!

So, this is a Lassie-centric story that started as a tag for Ep 5x16. There are quiet a few episode references, so it would be best if you've seen all of seasons 1-5. I wrote this in February, posted it on Psychfic in May and have finally gotten around to fixing grammar/spelling as best I could and posted it here.

This was suppose to be a story of Carlton "getting the girl" but I apparently can't write short, simple stories. The girl was suppose to be me 8-10 years older, but like the story in whole, it snowballed and she's maybe 30-40% me.

All names are randomly picked, so no offense to anyone. I picked my main character's name by typing Beth into Wikipedia and seeing what came up.

I have no expertise in medicine, the justice system, alcohol, really anything, so just roll with it.

I figured that Ep 5x16 took place in January since in the end of 5x15 the Chief told Shawn not to come back until the new year, or something. Also I figured Carlton got a new house since Ep 3x11 _Lassie did a bad bad thing_. This starts about 12ish hours after when Ep5x16 left off, with Carlton stopping at the gun range right beforehand.

**Super-sensitive material,** rated M for a reason, so proceed with caution.

Let me know if I need to change anything. Reviews of any sort are welcomed.

ENJOY!

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><p><em><strong>CHAPTER 1<strong>_

The Pub was sort of busy for a Wednesday. Even though it was barely 7pm, and therefore the dinner crowd, it was still unusual for a weeknight. But Carlton Lassiter didn't seem to notice as he walked to the bar in a daze.

"Hey Lassiter, the usual?" The bar tender asked as Carlton took a seat.

"Yeah, thanks Dave."

"Are you okay?" Dave asked as he put a glass of scotch in front of Carlton.

"Let's just say that it's been one hell of a couple days." Carlton chugged the whole thing back.

"Did you want to talk about it?"

"Not really." Shaking his head, Carlton said "Can I get another one?"

"Sure," Refilling the glass, he continued. "You know, there's been quite a few officers in here, as well as that Shawn Spencer fellow. He mentioned something about Yin no longer being a threat. Is that true?"

Nodding his head Carlton stared at his glass. "Yep. I shouldn't be telling you this, but Yin reappeared and managed to get a hold of Spencer and his sidekick. Believe it or not, Yang exactly saved them by killing Yin. Apparently, Yang is Yin's daughter and Yin was training a replacement. Talk about family problems." He drained the glass while Dave went to fill someone else's order.

"Did you want anything to eat before you fill up on alcohol?" Dave asked as he returned.

Shrugging, Carlton said, "Why not. Something simple, like fries and chicken strips. I'll take one more scotch and then I'll switch to whatever's on tap."

Carlton sipped his third drink as he looked around the place. It was a bit crowded with the dinner crowd and he recognized a few officers.

As Dave placed a glass of beer in front of him, Carlton asked, "When was Spencer here?"

"Oh, a couple hours ago? His friend was going home to sleep but he wasn't ready yet, so he decided to wait around here until his girlfriend got off work."

*Scoff* "Girlfriend," Carlton shook his head as he took a drink.

"You don't like his girlfriend?"

"Oh, I like her as a person, a lot more than I like Spencer. I just can't believe that the two of them are dating. I mean really? Shawn Spencer, the boy who won't grow up? And they've been dating for a while now, I just accidentally found out today. They don't even know that I know. I can't believe I didn't see it earlier! I should report them since they aren't suppose to be working together if they're . . . together." Carlton took another big gulp as Dave walked away to check on his other patrons.

Once his food arrived, Dave left him alone. Carlton didn't mind since he had barely eaten anything all day and was hungry. Around the time he was finishing, a light voice spoke up from behind him.

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"

Barely giving the lady a glance, Carlton mumbled, "Nope." as he reached for his beer.

"Thanks," she smiled as she sat down next to him.

Dave was quick to spot her and hurried over. "What can I do for you today, Miss?"

"Can I get an Apple Martini, and do you have a menu I can look at?"

"Sure do." Dave handed her one before rushing off to make her drink.

"Do you have any suggestions?" She asked.

When no one answered her, Carlton turned to see her looking at him. The first thing he noticed was her bright green eyes. They seem to sparkle even in the low lighting of the bar. He also took note of her long strawberry-blond hair, and that she had to be at least 10 years younger than him. She had a pleasant smile that she barely accented with make-up.

Realizing that she was waiting for an answer, Carlton quickly looked down at the menu in front of her. "Oh, the burgers are good. As well as the um, the pasta."

Smiling a bit brighter at his nervousness, or drunkenness depending at how you saw it, she looked back down at the menu. "Well, I had pasta for dinner last night so I guess I'll have a burger. Thanks for your help."

"No problem," Carlton responded as he turned back to his drink. Noticing it was almost gone, he waved it towards Dave as he came back with the lady's drink.

The next couple of minutes passed quietly while the lady checked her phone for messages. As she was putting it back in her purse, she accidentally bumped the guy on her other side. "Oh, I'm so sorry."

The guy turned to her and gave her a once over. Out of the corner of his eye, Carlton saw her shift nervously under his scrutiny. "That's okay sweetie. You can touch me as often as you want."

"No thank you." She replied as she turned forward.

"Why not? You're a pretty young thing and I'm a very open older guy. I thought that women liked older guys?"

"You're just not my type." She nervously fidgeted with her drink as she avoided eye contact.

"Oh yeah, and what exactly is your type." He reached over and stroked her hair causing her to flinch.

"Don't touch me." She tried to growl as she moved closer to Carlton.

"Aw, why not?"

Having heard enough, Carlton leaned forward and glared at the other man. "I believe the lady has asked you to leave her alone."

"Or what? Who are you anyways? Her shiny white knight? Have you come to defend her honor?" He chuckled at his own joke.

"I am an officer of the law and if you don't back off, possibly going as far as leaving the premises, I will have your ass arrested for harassment, disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace."

Realizing that there might be something behind Carlton's threat, the guy drained his glass as he threw a 20 down. "That's okay, this place was getting a bit stuffy anyways. Bye Sweetie." Puckering his lips, he got up and left.

Sitting back in his seat, Carlton watch the lady shakily take a large gulp of her drink. "Are you okay?"

Nodding, she turned and faced him. "Yeah thanks." Her smile wasn't as bright as it was earlier and he could see a bit of terror on her face.

"Are you sure? I could have an officer escort you home, just in case."

Laughing shakily, she replied, "That's sweet, but I'll be fine. Just a few bad memories."

Dave came over at that point with her meal. Setting it down with a smile, he turned to Carlton. "Is everything alright?"

Nodding, Carlton took a sip of his beer. "Just another drunken idiot."

Shaking his head, Dave cleared the now vacant setting. "You'd think that they would learn not to come into a cop bar. Can I get you another drink?"

"Sure, I'm not driving tonight."

"Okay, and how about you, Miss?"

Looking at Carlton's glass, she replied, "I'll have what he's having. And can you put his next couple of refills on my tab?"

"Oh, you don't have to do that Miss." Carlton said as he turned towards her.

Smiling, she said, "I want to. As thanks."

"It's part of the job." He was trying hard not to blush.

"Maybe so, but you're not on duty right now." Pushing her hair behind her ear, she stuck out her hand. "I'm Beth March."

"Like in Little Women?" Carlton replied automatically as he took her hand.

Smiling, Beth nodded, "Yeah, it's my mother's favorite book. All of her children are named from it. Most people don't get that reference since I usually introduce myself with my given name of Elizabeth."

"Well, lucky for me I guess." Carlton replied as he took another drink.

"And you are?"

"Head Detective Carlton Lassiter, SBPD." He ducked his head at her smirk and poorly concealed chuckle. "Sorry, force of habit."

"That's okay. At least I know what you do. I work in childcare, but I am a women of many hats. I like to do a lot of things."

"Like going to bars by yourself?"

"Well, a year ago, the answer would have been no." She started playing with her food and not looking at him. "I'm actually on a year-long sabbatical. You know, exploring the country while I'm still young."

"Sounds nice."

"Yeah. I've visited plenty of friends and family, but every so often I'll stop randomly in a city for a few weeks and explore on my own."

"How do you like Santa Barbara?"

Looking back at Carlton, she smiled. "Well, this is only my second day, but I'm liking it very much."

Turning back to his drink, Carlton tried to hide his smile. As he was lowering his glass, he spotted something in the mirror that changed his mood instantly. "You've got to be kidding me!" Carlton mumbled as he tried to duck his face.

"What?" Beth asked just as a young man a few years older than her squished between them and wrapped his arm around Carlton's shoulder.

"Hey Lassie, how's it going?" The young man asked.

Carlton growled as he tried to dislodge the arm. "I was fine before you showed up Spencer."

"Aw, come on Lassie. Show some love! You know, I almost died last night." he tried to whispered dramatically.

"Yes, Spencer, I was there."

"Nope," Shawn shook his head. "You were right outside while I was upstairs, strapped to a chair."

"Spencer," Carlton sighed as he rubbed his forehead. "You are probably the last person that I want to see right now."

"Well, too bad, Lassafrass! I'm your designated driver for the evening."

"What?" Carlton snapped his head around. Trying to shake off the sudden dizziness, he saw Beth quietly eating her food, trying to stay out of the conversation. "But who called you?"

Shawn pointed to Dave. "He did. Technically, he called Jules, but she's trying to sleep, so she called me. Aren't you so lucky?"

"Spencer, in case you have forgotten, you own a motorcycle. There's no way in hell that I'm getting on the back of that thing, no matter how drunk I am."

"Oh Lassie, don't be ridiculous! I didn't bring my bike, I borrowed my dad's truck."

"Does he know you stole it?" Carlton asked as he took a drink.

"For your information, I never steal vehicles, I borrow them. And yes he knows. I was at his house when Jules called. I'm suppose to help clean out the attic in return, but it's worth it to do Jules a favor and to take you home."

Shawn reached forward take a sip from Carlton's glass, only to be slapped away. "Don't tempt me Spencer, I still have my gun! Just because I'm too drunk to drive doesn't mean that my reflexes aren't still good."

"Fine! But can we go! The Cake Boss is on in a half hour and I don't want to miss it!" Shawn started to tug on his arm.

"I told you that I'm not going with you! Now will you let me go or I swear to God I will punch you in the face!"

Shawn let go and pouted, "Then how else are you going to get home?"

"I'll make sure that he gets home alright." A quiet voice replied.

Shawn looked puzzled for a minute, before turning to face Beth and asking politely. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

Smiling, Beth nervously brushed her fingers through her hair before looking at Carlton. "I said that I'll make sure that Carlton gets home alright."

Shawn turned back to Carlton and mouthed 'Carlton?' before turning back around. "I'm so sorry, that was very rude of me. I should have realized earlier that you two were talking." Shawn smiled widely as he offered her his hand. "I'm Shawn Spencer by the way, head psychic for the Santa Barbara Police Department. I've worked with Carly here plenty of times."

Carlton rolled his eyes as Beth laughed and shook hands. "Elizabeth March, preschool teacher. Funny, Carlton hasn't mentioned a Shawn Spencer or even working with a psychic."

Turning towards Carlton with a hurt expression, Shawn replied, "We've been working together for 5 years, and I don't even get the slightest mention?"

Carlton shook his head as he waved his near empty glass at the bar tender. "Nope."

Shawn turned back to Beth, "Well, that's a real moral booster. Now, let's see what the spirits have to say about Miss Elizabeth March."

Carlton groaned and he looked over to see the amused expression on Beth's face.

Closing his eyes and putting a hand to his head, Shawn began, "I'm sensing that you go by something shorter. Friends call you Liz? Betsy? Beth? Beth! And that you're not from around here, you just got into town a day or two ago from Los Angeles? No, although you did pass through. You just spent some time in Phoenix, Arizona. Hmm, interesting. But you're originally from the Midwest, more specifically, Ohio? Near the lake. You own a motorcycle? Awesome! And you have 3 sisters, 2 cats and a dog back in Ohio."

Bringing his hand down, Shawn whispered exhaustedly, "How did I do?"

Smiling, Beth took another bite of her burger as she thought. Finally, she turned to the two expectant faces in front of her. "Pretty close. I have 3 sisters, but one lives in Illinois. I also have a brother who lives in Ohio. And while I do own a motorcycle, I didn't bring it with me, mainly because it was in the shop when I left."

"I'm also sensing that you like to sing and play guitar, sometimes performing at bars. You brought your guitar with you and hope to get a few opportunities to perform in each city."

Nodding, she whispered, "You forgot that I also play piano."

"Well, the spirits don't tell me everything, I have to find out some things on my own."

"That explains a lot," Carlton mumbled around his next refill.

"Please excuse Carly here, he was never a believer." Shawn patted Carlton's arm only to get smacked again.

"I'm not a big believer either. I mean, part of me wants to believe, but some things are just harder to be convinced of than others."

"Unlike your faith. You've been a believer for most of your life."

Smiling, Beth pulled out her cross necklace that was resting under her blouse. "My family started going to church when I was in 4th grade but I didn't start truly believing until 8th and I've been very active in my church since high school."

"And part of your traveling is to help strengthen your faith after a very bad and devastating relationship." Shawn gently cupped Beth's hand with both of his.

"Yeah," She looked down before looking at Carlton. "That relationship had been a big test on my faith and I'm afraid that I didn't do too well."

Finally speaking up, Carlton said, "Well, it's like the story of the prodigal son, He'll always be waiting for you to come back with open arms."

"Yeah," Beth nodded as she let go of Shawn's hands to wipe a stray tear off her face. "Anyways, Mr. Psychic, I thought that you had a show you wanted to watch in," she looked at her watch. "18 minutes."

Shawn flipped his hand, "Oh, it's a repeat and I'll catch it again later."

"Yeah Spencer, why don't you go watch your TV show," Carlton said as he drained most of his glass.

"But I promised Jules that I'll make sure that you get home alright!" Shawn practically whined.

"And I will. Beth will take care of me, right?" At the two smirks, Carlton groaned, "That came out wrong, didn't it?"

"Yep! I can safely say that you are drunk, Lassiekins."

Carlton shook his head as he called Dave over and handed him his credit card. "Make sure that you put Beth's tab on as well."

"Hey! I was totally going to pay for my own food as well as two of your drinks!" Beth cried as she pushed her plate away.

"Think of it as a thank you for not leaving me stuck in a vehicle with Spencer," Carlton said as he watched Shawn picked a few left over fries from Beth's plate.

Taking a couple steps back, Shawn lifted up his hands peacefully. "Hey, I can take a hint. I know when I'm not wanted."

"Really? Then why are you always hanging around the station." Carlton replied as he signed the receipt.

"Carly!" Shawn huffed. "They love me over there! I'm the highlight of everybody's day!"

"Whatever." Carlton got off the stool and yawned. "By the way, have you even slept today Spencer?"

"Yes, I took an hour long nap this morning at the Psych office."

"And yet you're this hyper?" Carlton wondered as they started making their way through the bar.

"Yeah, I am a naturally hyper person."

Beth laughed at this comment. "You sound like my younger sister, Amy. She is such the life of the party. But she is also the most dedicated of the 5 of us."

"The only thing that Spencer is dedicated to is being a pain in the ass."

"Hey!" Shawn protested loudly as he opened the door for his two companions. "I'll have you know that I am dedicated to a lot of things! Like my friendship with Gus, Psych, annoying you, annoying my dad, annoying Gus, annoying. . . ."

Beth laughed as she placed a hand over his month. "We get it. You can be very dedicated to things, especially if it involves annoying people."

Taking her hand off his mouth, Shawn said "I annoy because I care," before kissing the back of her hand.

As Beth blushed, Carlton mumbled, "Sometimes I wish you would care less."

Stepping in before they started at it again, Beth took Carlton's arm. "I think this is the part of the evening where we bid you goodnight Mr. Spencer."

"Alright, but don't call me Mr. Spencer. I hate being compared to my father."

"Get some real sleep Spencer." Carlton called as they started off in different directions.

"Awww, you like me Lassie! You really like me!"

"Goodnight, Shawn," Beth laughed as she steered Carlton down the street.

After a few yards, she turned around and asked, "So, where can we catch a bus to your place."

Carlton stopped walking to stare at her. "I thought that you have a car?"

Nodding, Beth said, "I do, but I walked here from the motel. It's about a mile away and I figured you don't want to walk that far in your condition. Besides, you're the one that wanted to get rid of Shawn."

"That's very considerate of you, but I'm fine with walking." Carlton started forward as the world got a little tipsy.

Beth rushed forward to make sure that he didn't fall. "Yeah, you're definitely capable of walking that far."

"It's just the alcohol starting to affect me. I should be fine for the next hour."

"Okay, then let's hurry."

After about five minutes of quiet walking, Carlton asked, "So, what else can you tell me about yourself that Spencer didn't 'divine' or whatever."

Laughing, Beth took Carlton's arm to help steady him. "Well, I'm actually the middle child and with Amy less than a year younger than me, we were almost always grouped together, like we were twins. She always seemed to outshine me in academics, sports and relationships, so I had to find a way to make myself stand out. I fell in love with music, was even in a few special choirs in elementary and middle school. My grandmother had a keyboard at her house and I would be on it almost every time we were over. I eventually taught myself the basics and then took piano when it was offered in high school. Since my parents couldn't afford a good keyboard, they bought me a guitar when I was in 10th grade and I was able to pick up on it pretty quickly. My grandma was a huge influence on me and when she died a few months before graduation, I lost some of my passion."

They walked in silence for a few seconds before Carlton spoke up. "I was close to my grandfather. My dad was hardly ever around so there were a few places that my mom would drop me off at, one being at my grandparents. He taught me some of the finer points of fishing."

"I never had a good relationship with my parents. They are a bit free-spirited and hippy-like."

"I hate hippies." Carlton growled as they stopped at a light.

"Yeah," She smiled and ducked her head. "I mean, it seemed alright when we were younger, not having a lot of rules, doing almost anything that we wanted. But when I was in high school, I realized how much it messed me up. I don't have a strong work ethic, I'm not really comfortable with PDA or talking about feelings and I rebel in the smallest ways, like not doing homework. I used to think that my grandma was just a mean old bitty who didn't want us to have any fun. But when I was in high school, I realized that she was just trying to give us some structure."

Beth sighed as they started walking again, "I ended up not going to college and just floated from a few part time jobs, nothing substantial. When I turned 21, I realized how sad my life had become. Most of my classmates were a year away from graduating, Amy was pretty close to establishing a major, my brother Bobby was about to graduate from high school and become a mechanic. And me, well all I had was a bunch of short term jobs, a semester of college credit and still living at home. It took me over a year to finally get on track. I saved up enough money to move out and started taking classes online. My best friend's mom had a child care center, so I would help out there during the day and take classes at night. Eventually I got my associate degree and have worked there full time ever since."

Beth got quiet all of a sudden. "Are you okay?" Carlton asked.

Turning towards him, she sighed. "Yeah. It's just, it all seemed to be going so good for a few years. When I was 26, I met one of the kid's uncles. He seemed really sweet and was good with kids. He went to a neighboring church, different denomination, but I thought that it was okay since he went regularly. Anyways, to make a long story short, he hurt me really bad and destroyed my trust in him in one stupid night of drinking. Part of me feels like it was my fault, but then I remember that it was his choice, a stupid one, but his none the less. The important thing is that I was able to get away."

Sighing, she shook her head, "I'm sorry, you didn't need to hear all that. I tend to ramble when I'm nervous."

"No, it's, it's fine," Carlton mumbled.

They walked in silence for the next few minutes until they reached her motel. Crossing the parking lot, Beth said, "I left my car keys in my room. Why don't you wait here and I'll be right back?"

Nodding, Carlton sat down on a bench and listened to her walk away. But by the time she came back, he was fast asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

_**CHAPTER 2**_

Someone shaking his shoulders was the first thing Carlton noticed as he made his way back into consciousness. The next thing was a major headache when a female voice started talking.

"Carlton, you need to get up."

Groaning, Carlton pulled the covers over his head to help block out the light.

"Come on Carlton, the Chief called and said that you're needed at a crime scene."

"Fine. Just give me 5 minutes O'Hara."

"Sorry, not O'Hara. I'm not sure if I should be concerned or not."

Carlton quickly opened his eyes and stared at the face hovering over him. Definitely not O'Hara, but the face was vaguely familiar. "Beth?"

Smiling, she took a step back. "Yep."

"What are you doing in my bedroom?"

"Actually, you're in my bedroom. Well, motel room."

"Oh God, don't tell me we . . . ." Carlton gestured between the two of them as he sat up and checked his clothing. He was still wearing his pants and undershirt but his dress shirt and jacket were missing. "Not that you're not pretty. . . ."

"No, no we didn't." Beth blushed as she took another step back to sit on the other bed. "You passed out before I could drive you home, so I asked the night manger to help me get you in here. You slept right through the night, 10 straight hours."

"What time is it?" Carlton asked as he looked for a clock.

"It's a little after 7am. A Chief Vick called. She seemed a bit confused when I answered but didn't ask any questions. She said that you're needed at a crime scene."

Nodding, he got off the bed and made for the bathroom. Just before he closed the door, he turned around. "I'm sorry for that. I know you must have been nervous with a complete stranger staying the night."

Laughing nervously, she said. "I wasn't too concerned, you seem like a really nice guy. Besides, I have a stun gun under my pillow, just in case."

Nodding dumbly, Carlton went into the bathroom. He cleaned up as best he could but since he didn't have a razor, he would have to wait until he got to the station to shave. As he was about to leave the bathroom, there was a hesitant knock at the door. "Yes?" Carlton opened it to find Beth standing there nervously.

"I got you this." She held up a disposable razor and travel size shaving cream. "You don't seem to be the scruffy type and it is sort of my fault that you didn't make it home last night." When he still hadn't taken it, she continued. "It was the only kind they had at the gift shop."

Nodding, Carlton grabbed the peace offerings and started to close the door.

"Oh, and I'm gonna grab some breakfast and then I can take you back to your car."

"No, I'll just walk."

"Are you sure?" She bit her lip nervously.

"Yeah, it's fine."

"Alright, then I'll start sight seeing when I'm done. So please be sure to lock up before you go."

"Okay."

"Okay, well, have a good day." Beth turned around and grabbed her purse and jacket. As she reached the door, Carlton spoke up.

"Did you want to get some dinner tonight?"

"What?"

He stepped out of the bathroom and nervously twirled the razor a bit. "I mean, you said that you don't really know anyone and I usually eat by myself. So, I figured we could eat together and then I could show you around or something."

Nodding, Beth smiled. "Yeah that'll be great. Let me give you my cell phone number. That way whenever you're off work, you can let me know where to meet you." She went over to the desk and grabbed the stationary.

Handing the paper to Carlton, she smiled again and walked to the door. "Well, I guess I'll see you later then."

"Yeah, bye." Carlton said as he watched her walk out the door and into the morning light. Looking down at the paper in his hand, he smiled before remembering that he had to get going, and hurried back into the bathroom.

* * *

><p>The crime scene wasn't too bad, seemed like a murder-suicide. The wife put up a struggle before the husband drowned her and then shot himself. Since there wasn't a rush, Carlton was able to change into one of the shirts he kept in his locker. It was a little wrinkled, but at least it was clean.<p>

He was in a pretty good mood that morning, even humming a bit while he was doing paperwork, earning strange looks from the other officers. But he didn't mind, let them wonder.

As he was eating lunch at his desk, Juliet came over.

"Hey Carlton, I brought you a cupcake." She smiled sweetly as she put it in front of him.

Carlton cautiously set down his can of soda and glanced between the cupcake and Juliet. "Thanks O'Hara."

"You are welcome partner!"

When she continued to stand there, Carlton cleared his throat. "Anything I can help you with today?"

She shook her head, "No, I was just wondering how you were doing."

"I'm fine. Real peachy." He gave her a smile as he turned back to his lunch.

After another minute of silence, he heard Juliet sigh before crossing her arms. "Okay Carlton, what happened?"

Carlton leaned back in his chair. "I'm not sure what you are talking about."

"You're acting differently."

"Differently?"

"Yes, differently!" Juliet groaned as she started to pace in front of him. "Yesterday you were grumpier than usual, avoiding me like the plague, and practically bolting at the end of your shift. I get a call three hours later from Dave the bartender saying that you would be needing a lift home so I send Shawn, which I know would have put you in a worse mood. Then today, you show up about 10 minutes after me to a crime scene, even though your house is closer. You were wearing the same clothes as yesterday and looked a bit hung over, but you were in a good mood! Have been all morning. I want to know what happened between last night when you left the station and this morning when you showed up at the crime scene!" Juliet stopped in front of him and put her hands on her hips.

Carlton shook his head as he smiled. "Nothing happened."

"There you go again! You're smiling, a genuine smile! In the last 5 years, I've only seen a few of them, including when your sister was in town." Juliet got right into his face, a finger inches from his eyes. "I'm going to figure it out sooner or later. You can't pull the wool over my eyes for long, Carlton Lassiter!"

He watched as she stomped off to her desk and picked up her phone. Shaking his head, Carlton went back to his lunch. He was about to start on the cupcake when a set of slender, manicured fingers took it away from him. Glaring, he watched as Juliet walked away. Once seated, she put the cupcake in the middle of the desk before saying, "You can get it back as soon as I figure this out."

Growling a little, Carlton squared his shoulders and turned back to his paperwork, knowing that sooner or later, Juliet's conscious would make her fold.

* * *

><p>An hour later, as he was coming back from interviewing a few relatives of the dead couple, Carlton saw the cupcake sitting unguarded on his desk. Not sure if Juliet had caved or was tricking him, he made his way cautiously across the bull pen. Sitting down, he took one more look around before picking up the cupcake. As he was about to take a bite, a voice spoke loudly in his ear, reawakening his headache.<p>

"Hey Lassie! How's it going?"

Carlton put the cupcake down as he glared at Shawn, who then moved around so he was leaning against the desk.

"It was fine until you showed up, Spencer. It'll be even better once you leave," Carlton growled as he looked around for Gus or Juliet to help him. "Where's Guster? Don't you two usually hang out together?"

"Na," Shawn reached over to rearrange some of the trinkets on the desk. "He missed two days of work and needs to catch up, so I'm not allowed to pull him out except for an emergency for the rest of the week, unless I want him to extend it to the end of the month."

"And you can't do me the same favor," Carlton asked as he smacked Shawn's hand away so that he could get back to work.

"No way, Lassie. Besides, Jules called me down to talk about you."

Trying not to give anything away, Carlton picked up a file. Waiting a beat, Shawn continued.

"Yeah, you see, she's worried about you. Said you've been acting weird since the whole Yin/Yang thing ended. I suggested that you were just angry that Yin managed to get killed before you got your hands on him. But Jules said that that would explain yesterday but not today. Apparently, you've been in a very good mood today, even though you showed up to a crime scene late and in the same clothes as the day before. Now, that got me thinking. What could have happened that would have Head Detective Carlton Lassiter not only late to a crime scene, but also disheveled? Then I remembered last night at the pub and our new friend Beth!"

Feeling his face starting to redden, Carlton tried to pivot his chair away only to have Shawn turn him towards him.

"Lassie! Did you get a little action last night?" Shawn whispered comically.

As Shawn's grin slowly grew bigger, Carlton growled, "Actually, no, I did not."

Shawn's face fell. "Then what happened? You guys were getting along so well."

Taking a look around and finding that their area was deserted, Carlton whispered, "If you must know, we walked to Beth's motel in order for her to get her car and keys. While I was waiting for her to come back, I sort of passed out." Carlton blushed even redder. "I slept it off in her room but nothing happened. So don't you dare spread any rumors about her, she's a nice girl!"

Smiling innocently, Shawn raised one hand while the other covered his heart. "I promise not to spread rumors about the lovely Miss Elizabeth or tarnish her good name."

Shaking his head, Carlton turned back to his work. "I don't even know why I told you."

"Because I asked! And I can get Jules off your back for a while. So, when are you seeing her again?"

"Wha-What?" Carlton sputtered. "Who said that I'm seeing her again?"

"Come on Lassie, you can't lie to a psychic! I mean you can, but I always know when you're lying. So dish! Tonight? Are you going anywhere special? Ooh! Do you need any suggestions? Because I know this really great Thai place that . . . ."

"Spencer, I don't need your advice. What I do need from you is to go away so that I can get my work done so I can leave on time to meet Beth."

Smiling, Shawn got off the desk. "Alright Lassie. But I expect to hear all the details tomorrow. And if you need any advice, you know how to reach me."

"I'd rather take advice from your father," Carlton mumbled.

"Ouch, Lassie! Low blow dude, low blow." Shawn finally slinked off to find Juliet, giving Carlton some peace and quiet at last.

* * *

><p>The only indication that Shawn had told Juliet about what happened was the occasional glances and smiles she sent his way.<p>

It was almost time to leave when Police Chief Karen Vick came over to Carlton's desk and handed over a memo. "We just received word from the state prison that one of the inmates, a Mr. Jeffery Kingston, wants to give the names of drug dealers in exchange for a shorter sentence. Since it was your case, I need you to head down and see what he has to offer before we agree to a deal."

Groaning, Carlton took the paper. "Yes Chief."

Karen was about to comment on his attitude when Juliet came over. "I can do that Chief!" When both parties looked at her quizzically, Juliet blushed a little. "I mean, it's my turn to head over there."

"I don't know, it is a male prison. I don't want you to go by yourself." Karen looked between the two of them.

"Well, McDonald gets off in an hour, I'm sure he'll be more than happy to accompany me."

"If you're sure?"

"Yes, Chief I am." Juliet quickly took the paper from Carlton.

"Alright. I want a preliminary report on my desk by 10am tomorrow morning."

"Yes ma'am." Juliet nodded as the Karen walked backed to her office. Once the door closed, Juliet muttered, "You so owe me for this."

"I didn't ask you to do that. I'm perfectly capable of completing my own assignments." Carlton made a grab for the paper, only to have Juliet pull it out of his reach.

"No, I got this. Go have fun on your date." Juliet started back to her desk.

"It's not a date," he growled as he packed his briefcase. "It's just two lonely people having dinner together and then visiting some of the sites, together."

Juliet smiled as she put her jacket on. "That is the definition of a date, Carlton."

"Not if the two people don't acknowledge it as such. It's just two acquaintances getting to know each other."

"Whatever you say," Juliet checked her purse before coming over and putting a hand on Carlton's shoulder. "Have fun on your non-date. You deserve to be happy."

"Thanks, I guess." He looked at her hand confusedly until she dropped it and stepped back.

"Well, good night!"

"Night, O'Hara," Carlton watched as she made her way over to McDonald's desk. Taking a look at his watch, he decided that he could go home and shower before he met Beth for their non-date. Putting on his suit jacket, Carlton grabbed his briefcase and left.


	3. Chapter 3

_**CHAPTER 3**_

30 minutes later, Carlton was standing in front of his bedroom mirror putting on a tie. Taking a step back, he analyzed his outfit. Shaking his head, he took off the tie, muttering, "It's not a date."

* * *

><p>When he finally left the house, he was wearing dark blue slacks and a green dress shirt without a tie. He also grabbed a suede jacket that was shoved into the back of his closet, practically forgotten.<p>

Carlton pulled into a parking lot and quickly made his way to Stearns Wharf. He told Beth to meet him at the Dolphin fountain at 5:45, and he was running a little late.

Spotting her, Carlton was glad that he went more casual. Beth was wearing what she had on earlier: dark jeans, a nice light blue tank top and carrying a dark brown corduroy jacket. Her hair was up in a messy bun and she was wearing sunglasses.

"Hey Carlton," She smiled as she held out her hand.

"Hello Beth, how was your day?" Carlton took her hand and shook it.

"Pretty good. Is that how you greet all your female friends?" Beth laughed as she tilted her head slightly to check her purse, causing some of her bangs to cover her eyes.

"No, only the very important ones." Getting another giggle out of her, Carlton took her hand. "Come on, we're late."

Following him, Beth asked, "We're late? I was on time. You're the one who had me waiting for 5 minutes in the gathering dark!"

"Sorry, traffic was bad."

"What are we late for anyways?"

"You'll see." Carlton started walking faster, making Beth have to jog to keep up with his slightly longer legs.

As they came to the end of the pier, they were practically running as they dodged people. Stopping near the edge, Carlton pointed towards the West. "That's what we almost missed."

Beth's smile lit up as she watched the sun set behind the hills in the distance. She let go of his hand to take out her camera. Still watching the sun glittering off the water, he noticed that she wasn't facing the sun anymore. When he looked over, she had the camera pointed at him.

"Why are you taking a picture of me?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Beth pointed her camera at some little kid sleeping on their parent's shoulder. "I only need one or two of the sunset. I prefer taking pictures of people in motion, when they can't put on an act for the camera. It seems more natural and makes you feel like you were there."

Smiling, Carlton shook his head. "So photography and poetry are some of your many hats?"

Lowering the camera, she smiled. "Yeah. I'm glad you remembered that from last night."

"I'm a detective, it's part of my job to notice and remember things."

"Well then, detective, I hope you remember that you promised me dinner?"

Nodding, Carlton started walking back down the pier. "That I did. Do you like seafood?"

"Never really had any before." Beth replied as she took another picture of him walking.

Shaking his head, Carlton said, "Well, we will have to introduce you to some."

* * *

><p>As they enjoyed their appetizers of crab cakes and onion rings, Carlton told Beth a little about his life.<p>

"After getting my degree, I went straight onto the force, been at Santa Barbara for 15 years this May."

"Wow, if only I had that kind of commitment." Beth stirred her martini.

"Well, it was worth it in the fact that I was the youngest head detective ever for the SBPD. But at times, I wondered what would have happened if I had slowed down. You know, most students in Europe take a gap year before finishing their degrees."

Smiling, she laughed lightly, "Yeah, Amy took a semester off and went to France where she met several students taking a gap year. She said that it was one of the best things she'd ever done since it helped narrow down her career choice."

"Sometimes I wonder if I would have met my ex-wife if I took that year off." He picked at a crab cake while they fell into silence. A sugar packet hitting his chest broke him out of his musings. "What did you do that for?"

Leaning forward, Beth flicked him in the forehead. "One of the rules of first dates is that you don't bring up the exes."

"This isn't a date," Carlton quickly replied as he rubbed his forehead.

"It's not?" She leaned back and folded her arms.

"No. Why is everyone calling it a date? Why can't two people of the opposite sex just hang out and enjoy themselves without everyone thinking that they're dating?"

"Well, it looks like a date, especially with you paying."

"Then wouldn't this be our second date since I paid yesterday." Carlton rubbed his eyes. "I fail at dating."

"Hey," Beth tilted his head up. "You're doing just fine."

"Only because I didn't think of this as a date." He reached over to grab an onion ring, only to knock over one of the water glasses, sending it all over Beth's lap. "Oh, Sweet Justice!" Carlton groaned as he grabbed some napkins and handed them over.

A waitress quickly came over with a couple towels. "Is there anything that I can do to help?"

"How about the check? And can you box our food," Carlton mumbled as he hid his face.

"Why?" Beth asked as she put the wet napkins in the empty glass. "It's just a little water, I'll survive."

"But. . . ."

"I'll be fine." Turning to the waitress, she smiled, "We're staying, but can you get us a few more napkins, just in case?"

"Of course, Miss." The waitress took the wet towels and napkins as Carlton tried to drown himself in his beer.

Laughing, Beth took the glass away from him. "I told you it's fine. At least it was just water and not my drink."

"Sorry. Can we just go? I feel like I've embarrassed myself enough for one evening."

"No. Look, the food's here. Please can we stay?"

"Fine," Carlton huffed as the food was placed in front of them. Looking them over, he asked, "Why didn't you get seafood?"

"Because I ordered something that I knew I would like."

"You need to broaden your horizons, try new things. Here, have some shrimp." Carlton placed a few pieces on her plate.

Beth picked up her fork and started poking at them. "Are you sure they're okay to eat? They don't look cooked."

"Just try some," Carlton growled as he ate his own food.

The face Beth made as she chewed and then spit out into a napkin was priceless, making Carlton laugh. "That's disgusting! How are you eating that?"

Shaking his head, Carlton said, "I've been eating it all my life. I guess it's an acquired taste."

"Don't you dare tell me that's it good for me! I got enough of that crap from my mother growing up." Beth scolded as she focused on her chicken.

"Were you always a picking eater?"

"Yes! It would also annoy my mother, which was a plus when I was out of high school, although by then I learned not to complain and find something else to eat."

"Do you have any weird food preferences?"

Laughing, Beth nodded as she took a sip of her drink. "I don't like pork unless it's bacon, but it has to be crispy bacon. I don't like anything with a bone. I'll eat hot dogs and knockwurst but not bratwurst. I like most fruits except cherries and raspberries. I like tomato sauce and ketchup but not tomato juice or soup."

"Wow, what do you eat?"

"Well, beef, chicken, and turkey. But my favorite foods usually don't even have meat in them: Spaghetti and Pizza."

"I'm guessing that you're not a fan of Irish Stew?"

"Sort of, I don't like lamb. My family loves corned beef and cabbage though." There was a few minutes of silence while they ate.

"So, Mr. Head Detective, we somehow got away from me finding out more about you. I'm guessing that you are very good in the interrogation room?"

"Yes." Carlton replied curtly as he ate his food.

Sighing, Beth took his plate away from him.

"Hey! What is with people and taking food away from me today?"

"You'll get it back as soon as I learn 5 facts about you." She put it as far away from him as possible.

"Fine," He sat back in his seat and studied Beth for a few moments before saying, "I'm allergic to mint. I have a much younger sister, about your age now that I think about. I lead civil war reenactments. I go to the gun range several times a week. And I don't appreciate people taking my food." Carlton leaned forward and grabbed his plate.

"That last one doesn't count but I guess the thing about your sister can be counted twice, so I'll let it slide." Taking another bit of her food, she asked, "So, you're allergic to mint?"

"Yup."

"That sucks. My older sister Jo is allergic to bleach and my mom is allergic to pine, but the rest of us are fine. I don't know what I'd do if I was allergic to mint because I am such a gum-aholic."

"A what?"

"A gum-aholic. I'm addicted to gum. I can go basically all day chewing." Beth took a couple of his fries.

"You weren't chewing any today." Carlton swatted her hand away.

"Well, I was kind of flustered this morning and forgot to put a new pack in my bag." Beth blushed. "So I only had one piece that lasted me until lunch."

"You could have bought more."

"Could have, but I was visiting tourist places, which means that it would have cost me twice as much. Besides, I have enough in my room to last a month. Although, if I'm hanging out with you, I might have to switch to bubblegum."

"Mint only affects me if I digest it."

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind." Beth smiled at Carlton's discomfort. "Oh, there is one very important thing that you need to know about me if we're going to be friends."

He looked her over as she took another sip of her drink. "Oh yeah? And what would that be?"

She leaned forward and whispered, "I love making people uncomfortable. Finding the thing that makes people tick."

Carlton groaned as he leaned back. "God, you sound like Spencer."

Laughing, she patted his hand. "I know, Shawn and I would probably make a great team!"

"Oh, please don't gang up on me!" Seeing the smirk on her face, he pleaded, "Please don't. I can barely handle Spencer and his sidekick, I don't know what I would do if you joined the team!"

"I don't know, I love how you're squirming right now! It was funny enough last night while you were drunk."

Crossing his arms, Carlton growled, "You know, you're getting very close to ending up on my crap list, right in between Spencer Sr. and Jr., and it is very hard to get off that list."

Smiling suggestively, Beth said, "Well, does it come with benefits? Because then I wouldn't mind being on one of your lists."

"Oh my god," He closed his eyes and rubbed them. "I think you might be worse than Spencer."

Laughing, She reached over and patted his arm. "You're just too easy, Carly." When he growled in response, she laughed again and took his hand away from his eyes. "How about I'll try to lay off the jokes for the rest of the night. I can't make any promises, but I'll try."

Seeing the serious look on her face, Carlton nodded. "I guess I can live with that."

"Good!" Beth let go of his hand and waved for the waitress. "How about we blow this popsicle stand."

"You don't want any dessert?"

"I would love some, especially ice cream, but I usually like to wait an hour or two." When the waitress came over, Beth smiled sweetly, "We would like the check, please."


	4. Chapter 4

_**CHAPTER 4**_

Once the check was paid and they were making their way down the pier, Beth took his arm and asked, "So, where else were you planning on taking me tonight?"

"Well, you said you drive a motorcycle, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"How do you feel about bicycles?"

"Why do you think I got a motorcycle? Because I loved the freedom of riding a bike but they don't go very fast and I could barely go more than 20 miles in a day. Not very effective if you're going to visit a sibling who lives 30 miles away."

"Well don't worry. We shouldn't be able to go too far before the shop closes."

* * *

><p>"Oh man, I can't believe you had us rent a Quadra cycle!" Beth laughed as they left the shop and peddled down the street.<p>

"Technically, it only has 3 wheels so they call it a Deuce Coupe."

"I thought we were going to rent bicycles or a tandem bike!"

"But then it would have been harder to talk to each other." Carlton scratched his neck nervously.

"Whatever. I still think we should have gotten Segways."

Carlton groaned as they stopped at a light. "There's no way that I'm getting on a Segway again."

"Why not?"

"Let's just say that during a demonstration, I leaned a little bit too far and broke my nose."

Laughing Beth covered her mouth and gently pushed at his shoulder.

"For someone who isn't comfortable with PDA, you sure do a lot of touching." Carlton mumbled as they turned onto another street.

Calming down quickly, Beth looked away. Noting the change, Carlton placed one of his hands on top on hers. "Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I sometimes have a big mouth."

She smiled as she turned towards him. "No, it's okay. It's just, I've got a lot of insecurities and sometimes it helps to ground myself by touching someone else. It's a way to remind myself that I'm not alone." Taking a deep breath, Beth chuckled lightly. "You don't want to hear about this."

"Sure I do. I want to know more about you."

"Says the guy who won't let me know much about him." She smiled slyly.

"Well, I, um. . . ."

Laughing, Beth patted his arm. "It's okay, I was just messing with you, again. I'm usually the same way. Except around you. I feel like I could tell you anything."

Coughing, Carlton turned them down another street. "Maybe it's the job description."

"Maybe. Or maybe we're more alike than we care to note."

Silence fell over them for awhile until they stopped at another light. Taking a look around, Beth asked, "Where are we going? Assuming of course you haven't gotten us lost."

"We're not lost." Carlton stated as the light changed.

"Then where are we going? Because to me, it looks like you're just taking me deeper and deeper into the city so that you can drop me off somewhere and lose me."

Shaking his head, Carlton turned into a parking lot. "You said that you wanted ice cream, and this place makes some of the best I've ever had. It's even made locally."

"Aw, you're so sweet Carly!"

"Please don't call me Carly or I might reconsider leaving you in the middle of the city." Carlton growled as he got out to lock their Deuce Coupe up.

"But it's such a cute name!"

"For a girl and Spencer calls me that from time to time, although he's mostly fond of Lassie and various forms of that." He growled as Beth took his arm and started dragging him inside.

"I really should have a bow-wow with Shawn and find out some of his favorite names for you."

Groaning, Carlton said, "I thought you said you weren't going to tease me for rest of the night?"

Sighing, Beth got in line, "I said I would try. I can't change my whole personality in one night!"

"You could if you tried," Carlton mumbled.

Turning around, Beth looked him straight in the eye. "You should never change who you are just to please someone. I like you a lot, you're fun to be around once you loosen up. So I guess I'll have to try harder to be nice." Turning back to look at the selection, she continued. "See, I look at the choices and normally I would pick peppermint because hardly anyone has peppermint. But since you're here, I'm going to go with my second favorite ice cream flavor, which is peanut butter and chocolate."

"That's very considerate of you, but like I told you earlier, it only affects me if I ingest it."

"I know, but I'm a very considerate person. And I don't want to accidentally get some on your hand and then you go to lick your fingers and ingest it." Beth smiled widely at him before turning back around to order.

* * *

><p>After they finished their ice cream and returned the Deuce Coupe, they strolled along the beach.<p>

"Can I ask you something?" Beth asked quietly as they walked toward the shore.

"Sure."

"How much of last night's conversation do you remember?"

"Most of it, why?" Carlton tried to figure out what Beth was thinking about but she kept her face blank.

"Do you remember what I said about my ex-boyfriend?"

"I thought we weren't talking about exes?"

Beth smiled slightly as she sat down about 5 feet from the water. "I know, but this is important."

Sitting down next to her, Carlton turned partly so that he could see her face as she stared across the water. "You said that he hurt you really bad one night when he was drunk."

Nodding, she spoke towards the ocean. "Yeah. About a year into the relationship, I started to see a different side of him. I wouldn't move in with him or sleep with him, so he started sleeping around. I didn't know about it at first. Then one day, he came to pick me up for a date, and I could smell another women on him, it was like he was drenched in her perfume. I tried to confront him about it but he lied, saying that he was helping his mother move some things and a bottle of perfume fell all over him."

Taking a shuddering breath, Beth hugged her knees to her chest. "Then one day, he came over really late. He was so drunk and had that same perfume on him. I didn't have my car since Bobby was borrowing it and it was too far to walk. So I let him sleep on the couch."

She closed her eyes and was quiet for a minute. Having a feeling about what came next, Carlton said softly, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Beth shook her head, "No, if I don't say it now, I don't know if I ever will. My best friend Susie is the only other person who knows. Besides, it could have been worse." Taking a deep breath, she continued. "He came into my bedroom during the night and tried to seduce me. When I rejected him, he slapped me. I tried to fight back, but he just kept attacking me. I managed to kick him in the groin and ran out. I got on my motorcycle and went to Susie's house. By the time the police got there, he was gone. I left the city a week later and haven't seen him since." Tears started falling across her cheeks.

"He wasn't charged?" Carlton looked appalled.

"No, he had a friend fake an alibi and the charges were dropped."

"I'm sorry," Carlton mumbled as he hesitantly put an hand on her shoulder.

"It's not your fault." Beth opened her eyes and looked at Carlton. "I thought we were great together, everybody said we were so cute. Sometimes I'd hear whispers about when he was going to propose since we were together for over 2 years. I'm glad he never got around to it, because I would have said yes, even when I knew he was sleeping around."

Wiping her cheeks, Beth looked back towards the ocean. "And when that guy started hitting on me at the bar, I just sort of flashed back. I felt the fear from that night and what might have happened." Laughing, she turned back to Carlton. "I honestly felt safe in the motel room last night, even though you were basically dead to the world. I haven't felt that safe at night since before all this happened. Even when I was visiting relatives, I would be so scared that someone that I loved and trusted would try something. I ended up putting stuff in front of the door each night, and if I had to bunk in the living room, I didn't sleep."

"I'm glad I could help, even if for just one night." Carlton said as he brushed back a loose strand of her hair.

Smiling, Beth turned back to the ocean and shivered. "Why is it so cold? I thought that it's suppose to be warm and sunny in California, not cold and windy."

Shaking his head, Carlton stood up and offered her a hand. "Usually it is, but you must remember that it is almost 9 o'clock in January. And while it was in the 60's around noon, it can sometimes get into the high 30's at night."

"I guess it's better than Cleveland. When I checked in with my sister yesterday morning, she said that they were in the low 20's with the wind-chill dropping into the single digits."

"Ew, how can people stand that?" Carlton asked as he led the way to his car.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"What?"

Sighing, Beth wrapped her arms across her chest. "How can you stand wearing a suit and jacket when it's 80 degrees out?"

"I got used to it."

"Exactly! I'm use to the colder weather. I would sometimes walk around the house in a tank top, jeans and bare feet when it was below freezing outside. It drove my mom nuts but it was just comfortable to me."

"And yet you're cold now?"

"Dude, I just spent 3 weeks in Arizona! And before that I was in Texas. I haven't exactly been in cold climates. My sister Jo and my friend Wendy are both ones to pile on the layers and they would call me weird when I wouldn't. So I'd tease them that I was like a chameleon and I'd adjust. Like in the summer time, it could be 80/90 degrees outside and I'd have a blanket over me."

"They're right, you are weird," Carlton commented as his car came into view.

Laughing, Beth said, "Thank you. I love getting that compliment."

"It's not a compliment." Carlton growled.

"It is to me. Who wants to average?"

"Don't you mean normal?" Carlton questioned as he fished out his car keys.

"Nope. Average. I don't believe that there is such a thing as normal when it comes to people. You can be average, but everybody is different."

"Hmm, I never thought about it that way."

"Thank you." Beth said as she slid into the passenger seat. Once Carlton got in on the other side, she continued. "It was one of my philosophies I figured out a few years ago while I was trying to 'find myself' and it's stuck ever since."

"Maybe you should have become a therapist."

"No, I have a horrible work ethic when it comes to schooling. I could have been in all honors classes in high school but only did so in math since it took the least amount of effort on my part. I barely got my associate in childcare and that was only a 2 year degree. I doubt that I would have managed the 4 plus years for being a psychologist. Besides, if anything, I would have gone into accounting or pharmacy with my math skills."

Pulling out of the parking lot, Carlton looked over to see Beth staring out the window. They rode in silence for the 5 minute trip back to her motel.

As they were turning into the parking lot, Beth finally turned around and smiled. "Thanks for showing me around today. This road trip gets lonely at times and I appreciate the company."

"You're welcome." Carlton said as he turned off the car. "So, did you want to do this again tomorrow night?"

Smiling, Beth asked cheekily, "The exact same thing? Because even though it was fun, I'd rather try some new things."

"Smartass," Carlton muttered as she laughed. "Are you sure you're not related to Spencer? You could be his twin or something."

"I'm positive. Unless somehow his dad got my mother pregnant. That would explain a lot about how I don't act like my siblings."

"Please don't go there," he moaned as he laid his head on the steering wheel. "Are you going to answer my question or not? Because I'm starting to get a headache."

Smiling, she patted his shoulder. "I would love to hang out with you tomorrow in the non-date capacity."

"Good."

"I saw an advertisement for a trolley tour and was planning on doing that. I think it ends at the Courthouse, so I can meet you there after your shift."

"Okay," He sat up straight. "I get off work around 5, so I'll call you when I'm leaving."

"Okay. Thanks again." Beth leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "Good night Carlton," she whispered as she hurried out of the vehicle and walked towards her room.

Touching his cheek, Carlton watched as Beth stopped at her door and took his picture. Still in a daze, he just stared as she entered her room. Shaking his head, he quickly started up his car and made his way home, wondering what the hell he just got himself into.


	5. Chapter 5

_**CHAPTER 5**_

The next morning as he entered the station, Carlton was still trying to figure things out. After the incident at dinner, Beth hadn't mentioned anything about dating. But then she kissed his cheek as she left. Was she just messing with him or did she actually like him? The age difference wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact that she was about the same age as Lulu.

Sitting at his desk, Carlton stared off into space. There was nothing wrong with just being friends. He had been friends with O'Hara for 5 years and nothing came of that. The same could be said of Chief Vick, except he thought of her as his boss first and hardly ever his friend. Now that he thought about it, he didn't really have any buddies that he hung out with, so this could be a good thing.

Shaking his head, Carlton realized that he had been sitting at his desk for almost 20 minutes and hadn't gotten anything done. Luckily his shift doesn't start for another half hour. Grabbing his mug, Carlton went over to the coffee makers, hoping that the caffeine would help him to focus.

* * *

><p>Carlton's morning went pretty smoothly. The autopsy from the murder-suicide came back clean with nothing suspicious, so he spent most of the morning closing and filing the case. Juliet had been busy going back and forth between the DA's office about the prisoner's request and cross checking the names. She had yet to find time to ask him about his non-date, but from the looks she was sending him, she was anxious to know.<p>

A little before lunch, a call came in about a burglary at the mansion of a very influential politician, meaning that Carlton and Juliet had to go because of the magnitude of it. The first five minutes of the drive were quiet but tense. Carlton was waiting for Juliet to ask but it didn't seem like she knew where to begin by the way she kept shooting him looks.

Sighing, Carlton finally said, "You might as well ask. I can tell that you're dying to know."

He saw her face light up like a kid on Christmas before she asked quickly, "So how did it go? I know you said that it wasn't a date but dish. Did you guys have a good time? Are you going out again? You know what, I don't even know much about her, except what Shawn told me, which wasn't a lot. He said that she's an amateur musician and that she's taking a break from her life right now. Is she sweet? Is she kind?"

Stopping at a light, Carlton reached over and covered her mouth. "O'Hara, I'll tell you if you'll just calm down and let me talk, okay?"

Seeing her nod her head, Carlton let go and turned back to the road. Taking a deep breath, he said, "She's interesting, to say the least. She's nice and considerate but likes to have fun. We actually had a good time last night."

"How long is she in town?" Juliet smiled.

"I don't know. She usually spends a couple of weeks in each city, and this is only her fourth day. I'm guessing that she'll be heading north next."

"So, are you meeting her tonight?"

"Yeah." He pulled into politician's driveway. "I'm not sure where this relationship is going, but we seem to have fun together. Well, it's more like she's having fun at my expense, but I'm okay with that."

Turning the car off, Carlton turned to face Juliet's smile. "Don't tell Spencer, but he has competition in the annoyance category."

At Juliet's look of shock, Carlton got out of his vehicle and approached the house. By the time he reached the door, Juliet finally rejoined him. Trying to hide his smirk, Carlton entered, ready to be the pain-in-the-ass head detective.

* * *

><p>The rest of the afternoon was spent checking leads and getting alibis. Around 4:30, it was looking like he would be able to leave on time. Coming back from records, Carlton was feeling pretty good. That is, until he recognized a certain fake psychic's voice coming from the direction of desk. Groaning, Carlton marched over, fully prepared to kick Shawn out.<p>

"And then, thinking that he'd beat me to the punch, he actually went in front of the cameras and announced that the John Doe was murdered! The news media basically crucified him for that, calling him Detective Dipstick."

The laughter that reached his ears only made him angrier, "Spencer! What the hell are you doing on . . . my desk?" Carlton paused as he found Beth sitting in his chair.

"Hey Carlton," Beth smiled

"Oh Carly, we're just having some girl talk." Shawn said from his perch on the desk. "Beth was telling me some interesting stories about her and her siblings and I was telling her some funny things about you!"

"That's not a very funny story," Carlton growled as he pulled Shawn off his desk.

"Yeah Shawn, it's actually kind of mean." Beth said as she moved to lean against the pillar.

"Oh, but it gets better! Once the shark that they thought was the killer was captured and killed, it was stolen and we followed a trail to find it."

"I thought that you divined the location or something." Carlton chimed in as he sorted through his papers.

"I did, we followed the trail that the spirits laid out, Lassie. Anyways, we knew we found it because it stank to high heaven. So Lassie here marches forward, yanks the tarp off and this dead 9ft shark tackles him to the ground and covers him with I don't even know what!"

"Aw, poor Carlton!" Beth cooed as she covered her mouth.

"And then, not 5 minutes later, we find out that this wasn't even the right shark! The one we were looking for was about twice as big."

"Did you guys ever catch it?"

"No, because the guy actually was murdered, so they ended the shark hunt. Unfortunately, Carlton had jumped off the crazy theory train before Gus and I discovered the real killer. We got on the front page of the paper and Lassie ended up being his regular, by the rules, uptight self again."

Carlton started clapping as he stood up and walked around to Shawn. "Thank you for that lovely retelling of a case that I'd rather forget. Now if you don't mind, I've got some work to do before I leave for the day. Goodbye Spencer." Carlton gave him a shove towards the door.

"But Carly! Who else is going to give Beth the skinny on all of your more embarrassing cases?"

"Not you, now scram!" Carlton walked back to his desk.

"Fine! I have to go to my dad's house for dinner anyways. Stop by the Psych office anytime Beth and I can show you some of the lesser known places around town."

"Doesn't that include your office?" Carlton growled as he flipped open a report.

"Ouch Lassie! What's with all this zingers lately? I guess I have Beth to thank for them." Shawn stepped closer to the desks

"OUT NOW!" Carlton stood up and placed his hands on the desk.

"I think now would be a good time to leave." Beth commented with an amused smirk.

"I think you are right." Shawn turned away from the fuming detective and took Beth's hand, kissing the back of it. "Good day, Miss Elizabeth."

"Bye Shawn," Beth smiled widely as she watched him practically bounce from the area.

Carlton turned back to his work and tried to get as much done as possible. After about 5 minutes, he noticed a clicking sound. Looking up, he saw that Beth had her camera out and was taking pictures of the people in the precinct.

Smiling, he asked, "What are you doing here anyways? I thought that I was meeting you?"

Beth moved closer so that she was leaning against his desk. "Well, I got done early. I spent almost an hour at the courthouse before I came here. The view from the tower was amazing!"

"Why were you talking to Spencer?" Carlton asked as he heard her take another picture.

"I met him outside and he was more than happy to tell me more about you since you seem less inclined to do so. "

"Yeah, well, it's not easy for me to share." Carlton signed his name on a report and looked up at her. She was smiling again as she looked around the precinct. He was about to ask how her day was when another voice cut him off.

"Hey Carlton. I got those reports you wanted." Juliet came around the corner and almost ran into Beth, dropping the files. "Oh, I'm so sorry." Juliet and Beth both bent down to pick them up while Carlton rolled his eyes.

"It's not a problem. I probably shouldn't even be here." Beth replied as she handed over her pile and stood. Looking at Carlton, she smiled sweetly, "Aren't you going to introduce us?"

"Um, yeah. O'Hara, this is Beth March. Beth this is O'Hara, I mean Juliet." Carlton shook his head as Beth smiled as his mistake.

"Oh, so you're Beth!" Juliet wrapped Beth in a hug who just stood there kind of awkwardly with both hands half raised.

Coughing, Carlton inputted, "O'Hara, she's not really a hugger."

Stepping back, Juliet blushed, "I'm sorry. Force of habit."

"It's okay." Beth laughed nervously. "Just give me a little warning next time."

"O'Hara."

"Yeah?"

"The files?" Carlton held out his hand.

"Oh, right. Sorry." Handing them over, she said, "Why don't you leave early and you can finish the reports tomorrow?"

Staring at her, Carlton said, "Tomorrow's Saturday. I have it off, as do you."

"Right, which means I need to hurry up. Nice to meet you Beth." Juliet slowly backed away before heading towards her desk.

"You too Juliet." Beth turned back to Carlton and said, "I like her. She reminds me a little of Amy, except a bit more girly."

Snorting, Carlton looked over her files. "O'Hara might be girly but she's tougher than most cop when she needs to be."

There was silence for a few more minutes as Beth took some more pictures. A popping sound made Carlton look up. "I thought you weren't going to chew anymore gum or something?"

Shaking her head, Beth smiled. "No, I'm just not going to chew my minty gum when I'm around you. I actually bought some bubblegum but it's so annoying because it lasts at most 2 hours before I have to get a new piece." She sighed as she sat on the edge of his desk.

"Such sacrifices you must make, how will you ever survive?" Carlton joked.

"I don't know! But they're totally worth it." Beth smiled widely as Carlton blushed.

Looking back down at his work, he sighed. "This is going to take me at least another half hour. Why don't you go get some coffee, there's a Starbucks . . . ."

"I don't like coffee."

"What? How do you not like coffee?"

"It's too strong." She started playing with some of his knickknacks. "I rarely drink tea without sugar. Besides, growing up, my dad made a 12 cup pot of coffee every morning and would drink almost the whole thing during the day. He has high blood pressure now. I never wanted to get addicted to it like that."

"What about your gum addiction?" Carlton asked smugly as he leaned back in his chair.

Beth smiled widely, "Well, most gum is good for you. Helps prevent cavities and gum disease and burns calories."

"I see. So if the addiction is beneficial to your heath, you don't mind?"

"Of course." Beth looked back up at him. "I also have a thing for carbs, mostly bread and pasta. As long as I don't eat too much, I'm fine."

"Ah, so I guess Italian is always a good choice for you?"

"Yes. As long as there isn't any pork or if it's in small portions and mixed in well."

"I'll keep that in mind." Carlton smiled before glancing at his papers. "But I really do need to get this done so that I don't have to come in tomorrow."

"Okay, I guess I'll go get a smoothie or something. Where's this Starbucks?"

* * *

><p>They ended up at a karaoke bar, even though Carlton never went up to sing. Beth went up about half a dozen times in the 2 hours they spent there, even got requested to stay up a few times.<p>

As they were leaving, Beth was practically skipping down the sidewalk, Carlton having a hard time keeping up. "That was so much fun! I haven't done karaoke since Amy's 27th birthday party a few years ago. Let me tell you, she has a great voice but she doesn't like sharing it, so it took a lot of convincing and a lot of alcohol to get her up there. And then of course she picked party songs and had me sing with her."

"Am I ever going to hear you play guitar or piano?" Carlton asked as they stop at a light.

"Yeah. I've got a few try-outs tomorrow morning. Hopefully I'll get a few gigs in while I'm here. So, where are we headed now?"

"Well, I figured that we could go to the Arlington Theatre. There's a show starting in 20 minutes that I thought you might enjoy."

"Really?" Beth looked him over. "It's not some tribute to police procedures over the years, is it?"

"No! What?" Carlton saw the mischievous smile on her face and sighed. "It's actually a salute to Gershwin."

"Oh my gosh, seriously?" She stopped and stared at him.

"Um, yeah."

Beth squealed as she wrapped her arms around him and jumped up and down. "Thank you thank you thank you!"

"You're . . . Welcome?" Carlton awkward put a hand on her back.

"Come on, what are we waiting for?" Beth pulled back, grabbed his hand and started running for the building about a block away.

Carlton smiled as he tried to keep up.


	6. Chapter 6

_**CHAPTER 6**_

The next day, they met at a Japanese restaurant for lunch. As they waited for their food, Beth told Carlton about her tryouts.

"Two of the guys said that it wasn't really their styles but the third one said that he could use me tomorrow night since he had a cancellation. I told him that I also do contemporary Christian music, so he gave me the number of one of his buddies that hires religious acts. I'm going to see him Monday morning."

"That's great." Carlton said as he poured himself a small cup of Saki.

"Yeah. It is always so nerve racking trying out. I mean, I'm fine when I have the gig and am performing in front of 20, 30 people. But when it's one or two people and you know that they're judging you," Beth shivered as she took a sip.

"Anyways, you should be glad that I spent time with my oldest sister Meg. She and her husband would basically make me try at least one new thing every time I visited. This year, we tried Japanese again since the last time I wasn't very adventurous. I can safely say that I dislike soy sauce but can stand it in small portions."

"I'm guessing they're the ones that had you try Saki?" Carlton watched as the waiter came over with their plates.

Nodding, Beth laughed. "I was 21 the first time I had it. I've always been this good little angel, never tried cigarettes or took drugs, and had maybe 3 things of alcohol in the 8 months between my birthday and when I visited them. Even though my birthday is 2 days after New Years Eve, I didn't even try the champagne until almost a week later. Anyways, I kept taking too much Saki at a time and had to follow it up with my ice tea."

They started eating their food for a few minutes until Beth spoke up again.

"They didn't press me too much about alcohol the rest of that trip. The only other thing they had introduced me to was a whiskey sour, which is a much better choice for me that a gin and tonic like Jo tried to get me to drink a month prior. I was laughing so much that day with Jo because they kept telling me to drink it and I was honestly a bit afraid of it."

"You were afraid of alcohol?" Carlton couldn't help the smile on his face.

"Yeah, well like I said, I was a very good child. And I don't know, I guess the smell of it was strong enough that I was afraid of trying it."

Carlton started laughing at this. Sighing, Beth turned back to her food and seemed to pout for a few minutes, even though Carlton could see her trying to hide a smile.

* * *

><p>Once they finished their meal, they stopped at Beth's motel room so that she could drop off her car and guitar before getting on the highway.<p>

After about 20 minutes of quiet driving, Beth turned away from the window and asked, "Where are we going?"

"Well, how do you feel about nature walks?" Carlton looked over to see the suspicious look on Beth's face.

"They're nice, I enjoy the quiet. So we're going on a hike?"

"Sort of."

"Sort of? Either we are or we aren't. It's not that hard of a question." Beth crossed her arms.

"Well, we are going into the woods but we won't be walking, per say."

"Are we mountain biking?"

"No." Carlton replied as he turned off the highway.

"Then what? Don't tell me that it's some weird safari expedition where we stay in the car and the animals come to us, because that is nothing like a nature walk."

Laughing, Carlton replied, "Why don't you look in the back seat."

Beth gave him a calculating look before turning around. "Stetsons? What, we're going to an old western town? I didn't know that they still had those."

"Well, they use to. Old Sonora closed down about a year and a half ago. I loved that old place. Went there all the time when I was a kid."

Smiling, Beth said "Thank you."

Carlton looked over confusedly. "For what? You haven't figured out what we're doing yet."

"For telling me something about yourself without me asking."

"Oh." He looked back at the road. "You're um, welcome?"

Laughing, Beth patted his arm. "Okay, so we're not going on a safari, we're not going to an old western town, then what are we doing?"

"How do you feel about horses?"

"I think that they're magnificent. My uncle has a horse and the few times that I've visited, I would spend an hour or so just watching it."

"Have you ever ridden?"

"No, I never got the chance."

Turning down a drive, Carlton said, "Well, now you will."

"Seriously?"

"Yes. I guess we'll have to take it slow since it's your first time." At Beth's laugh, Carlton growled, "You know what I mean."

"Yeah, but it's much more fun to watch you squirm."

"And it'll be so much fun when I 'accidentally' leave you behind."

That only made her laugh harder.

* * *

><p>The rest of the day went pretty smoothly. Beth was nervous about getting up on the horse, but once they got going, she was a natural. Carlton had borrowed her camera a few times to take pictures. Afterwards, they made their way to a vineyard where Carlton introduce her to a few of the Californian wines. Beth decided that she preferred white wine, which he found interesting since red wine is what is mainly used for communion. Beth simply laughed and said, "Well, I grew up in the Methodist church and they use grape juice since all are welcome to the table, even little kids and recovering alcoholics."<p>

The next day, Carlton had to go into work so Beth ended up taking Shawn up on his offer after going to church. While Carlton wasn't so sure about the two of them hanging out together, at least he wouldn't have to worry about Shawn showing up at work to distract him.

Towards the end of his shift, they finally got a lead on the person responsible for the burglary. It turned out to be a disgruntle employee, and when they went to pick the guy up, he ran. Carlton sprained his left ankle in the foot race and was ordered to go to the hospital to make sure it wasn't serious.

So by the time Carlton was finally able to meet up with Beth, her gig had already started. He slipped into the half-filled pub and ordered a coffee. He immediately spotted Shawn and Gus up front and sat a few tables away from them, but close enough that Beth would be able to see him. He was rewarded by her bright smile in a song change. Unfortunately, it also attracted Shawn's attention who, after a quiet slap fight with Gus, made his way over with his drink.

"Hey Lassie!" Shawn greeted as he sat next to Carlton.

"Spencer."

"So, what happened to your ankle?"

Glaring at Shawn, Carlton asked, "How did you know that I hurt it? You saw me after I sat down and the brace isn't that noticeable."

"Aw, Lassie. Must you always ask? I sensed that something was wrong with you. The spirits aren't telling me much except that it isn't too serious."

"And what gave that away? The lack of crutches?" Carlton growled as he tried to listen to Beth singing 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World.'

"Just so you know, Beth was worried about you." Shawn said seriously as he took a sip of his drink

"She was?"

"Yep. You were suppose to met her almost two hours ago and when you didn't call, she thought that something happened."

Carlton looked guiltily at Beth. "Well, I dropped my cell in the foot chase, breaking the battery. By the time I could get to a phone, her gig had already started."

Shawn patted Carlton's arm only to get swatted away. "I called Jules before Beth went on and she said that you were fine and would just be a little late."

"So O'Hara told you about my ankle?" Carlton looked at him suspiciously.

"No, she just said that you were following a lead but figured that as soon as you could, you would get here. Or if you showed up at the station, she'd make sure you called me."

"Thanks, I guess." Carlton mumbled as he took a sip.

"You are welcome Lassie," Shawn smiled as he made his way back to Gus as the small crowd applauded.

Smiling, Beth put down her guitar and made her way to the piano. As she rearranged her music, she spoke into the microphone. "I want to thank you all for coming tonight. I haven't been in Santa Barbara long, less than a week, but I truly love this city. You have such a wonderful culture, beautiful architecture, and really friendly people."

Carlton blushed slightly as Beth looked towards him. "This is one of my favorite Gershwin songs and I want to dedicate it to someone who has made my visit here very special."

Carlton saw Shawn flash a huge smile his way, but Carlton was still looking at Beth as she started playing. After a brief piano intro, she started singing.

_There's a saying old says that love is blind_

_Still we're often told "seek and ye shall find"_

_So I'm going to seek a certain lad I've had in mind_

_Looking everywhere, haven't found him yet_

_He's the big affair I cannot forget_

_Only man I ever think of will regret_

Carlton listened as Beth seemed to pour her heart into the song. When she wasn't looking at him, she had her eyes closed, seeming to sway to the music.

_Won't you tell him please to put on some speed_

_Follow my lead, oh how I need_

_Someone to watch over me_

The room was quiet for a few seconds as she finished, her eyes still closed. When the applause started, some whistling from Shawn, she opened her eyes and smiled at Carlton, tears silently falling down her cheek.

Quickly clearing her throat, Beth turned to the pub at large. "Thank you, thank you very much. I think I'm going to speed things up just a little bit and play some Pink next."

* * *

><p>By 9:30, the pub was fairly crowded, Juliet had even joined Shawn and Gus at their table.<p>

Finishing up a fairly new slow song that Carlton had never heard of, Beth smiled and said. "Once again, thank you all for coming. Unfortunately, I have to go, but I'll be back soon, just keep an eye out. Remember, don't drink and drive. Goodnight!"

As Beth nodded at the applause, the bartender turned on the radio station. Shawn and company didn't waste any time in getting up front and talking to Beth. Carlton hung back and finished his coffee. Since the doctor had recommended extra-strength aspirin, Carlton laid off the alcohol for the night but decided that he definitely needed the caffeine.

When the group finally left, with a "Bye Lassie!" floating through the air, Carlton made his way to Beth as she was packing up.

"Hey Carlton!" Beth greeted.

"Hey, you sounded great tonight." He said as he gathered a few sheets of music by the piano.

"Thanks! The manager said that I could play anything that I felt comfortable with, as long as I didn't play too many religious songs."

Once Beth was packed, Carlton carried her guitar as they made their way to her car. She smiled and asked, "Did you want to get some food? I didn't really eat much beforehand and I obviously can't eat while I'm performing."

"Sure," Carlton agreed as they loaded up the backseat. "Anything in particular that you want?"

"Pizza? That's usually my post-gig meal."

Nodding, he said, "Okay. Well, there's a good dine-in pizza place a couple blocks from here. We can take your car and then swing back later for mine."

"Alright." Beth handed over her keys and went to the passenger side.

"You want me to drive?"

"Why not? You're the one who knows where we're going." She smiled sweetly as she got in.

Shaking his head, Carlton got in as well. "It's just that I don't really trust people to drive my vehicle."

"That's the difference between you and me. I'm a lot more trusting than you. Besides, you're a cop. You should be a very law-abiding driver."

Smiling, Carlton started the car up. "Well, when you put it that way."

* * *

><p>By the time Carlton got home, it was almost midnight and he was tired. He was temporarily on desk duty because of his ankle and Karen said that he shouldn't come in until after 11am. She originally wanted him to take the whole day off, but he wouldn't let her. She finally relinquished and told him no earlier than 11, although he was planning on coming in at 10. Hopefully Karen wouldn't notice.<p>

Grabbing his spare cell phone battery, he left his phone to charge and crawled under the covers. He was out in 5 minutes.


	7. Chapter 7

_**CHAPTER 7**_

His cell phone ringing woke Carlton up, but it stopped before he could reach it. Looking at the clock, he noticed that it was only 3am. Grumbling about prank calls, he rolled over. Before he could fall asleep, the phone rang again. Quickly opening it, Carlton barked "Lassiter."

Getting no immediate answer, he was about to yell at them for pranking people in the middle of the night when he heard what he thought was a sniffle. Sitting up, he tried again. "Hello?"

There was more silence until a hesitant voice spoke. "Ca-Carlton?"

"Yes, who is this?"

"It's Beth."

When she didn't continue, Carlton got a bad feeling in his gut. "What's wrong?" he asked as he grabbed his pants and threw them on.

"Can, can you come get m-me?" She took some deep breaths.

"Yeah, where are you?"

"I'm on the beach."

Slipping on his shoes, he tried not to growl in frustration. "Okay, do you know which beach?"

"Between the harbor and Stearns Wharf."

"That's near your motel, why don't you go back there?" He grabbed his car keys and made his way to the door, grabbing his jacket as he passed.

"I can't go back there, please don't make me go back." She started getting more upset.

"It's okay, you don't have to." Hearing her take more deep breaths, he asked, "Do I need to call an ambulance or another police officer?" Getting no response, he checked to make sure the call hadn't dropped. "Beth? Are you still there?"

"Yeah. Can you hurry, please? It's cold out here and I didn't bring my jacket."

Starting up his car, he asked, "You didn't grab your jacket? It's got to be about 40 degrees out there."

She laughed sadly. "I know that now. I barely remembered to grab my purse which has my wallet and phone."

"Okay. I'm in the car now and will be there in 10 minutes. Can you meet me at the dolphin statue?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, I'm going to hang up now."

"No! Please don't!"

"Okay," Carlton put the phone between his shoulder and ear. "But you're the one who called me a 'law-abiding driver.' I'm not exactly following the law while talking on the phone, am I?"

Laughing, Beth replied, "I guess you're right." She sniffled a few times before asking, "You're coming, right?"

"Yes, 8 minutes tops."

Taking a deep breath, she said, "Then I guess you can hang up. Just be careful."

"I will." Hearing the call disconnect, Carlton dropped the phone into his lap and sped up a little. All the cops knew his car and wouldn't dare pull him over.

* * *

><p>When Carlton finally pulled up near the statue, he didn't see Beth anywhere. He was about to get out when he saw her hurry out of a bunch of trees. Leaning over to open the door, he noticed that she was just wearing shorts, a tank top and sandals. Her hair was a mess, one side of her face was red and she seemed to cradle her right hand to her chest. As she sat down, Carlton took off his jacket and handed it too her.<p>

"Thanks," she mumbled as she put it on.

Turning on the heater, he asked, "Where are we going?"

Still not looking at him, she shook her head, "I don't know. How about your place?"

"No, let me try that again." Carlton quickly pulled away and started making their way through the streets. "Which hospital should we go to?"

Sniffling, Beth said, "You mean you don't want me to disturb any potential evidence, so you want me to go to the hospital and start a report?"

Carlton nodded. "Yeah."

She sighed, "It'll make you happy if I go?"

"No, but it will make me feel a little better. Something happened, and like you said, I'd rather have the evidence filed."

Nodding, Beth wrapped her arms tighter across her chest. "Fine. Do you have any spare clothes?"

"Yeah. They are some in the trunk. I've got sweats and a t-shirt that you can put on after we get you checked out."

"Okay," Beth whispered as she looked out the window.

After some silence, Carlton asked. "Should I send a patrol to your motel room?"

Sighing, she talked to the window. "Might as well. He's probably long gone by now."

"Okay. McNab is on duty tonight and he's discreet. I'll give him a call and have him meet us at the hospital."

"That's fine."

After he made the call, Carlton asked, "Can you tell me what happened? Not all of it, just the basics."

"Fred, my ex. He showed up while I was sleeping. Drunk again. I got away before he could, you know. But it was close." Beth shook her head as she curled into the seat, facing the window.

* * *

><p>When they got to the hospital, Carlton grabbed the clothes and a blanket before they made their way into the waiting room, which was practically deserted. He had her sit while he grabbed the papers to sign her in. Wrapped in the blanket, she leaned against him as she told him what to write.<p>

They sat in silence as they waited her turn, watching others being called back. Ten minutes into their wait, Buzz McNab showed up. Beth pressed herself a little closer into Carlton when she saw Buzz's 6 foot 5 inch stature.

"Detective Lassiter, sir." Buzz greeted politely.

Carlton squeezed Beth's hand reassuringly as he said, "McNab, I need you to go check out a motel room. The perp is most likely long gone, but check anyways, see if he left anything behind and let the motel's management know that the room is a crime scene and they shouldn't enter. Got it?"

"Yes sir."

Nodding, Carlton turned to Beth and asked quietly, "Can we have your motel key?"

Beth took one more look at Buzz before picking up her purse and looking through it, trying not to move her right arm too much. She got out her key ring and tried unsuccessfully to take off the motel ring.

After she dropped her keys for the third time, Carlton gently took them from her. "I got it." She blushed as she dropped her hands. Quickly separating the key, he handed it to Buzz as he mentioned the motel name and room number. "I'll be by the station later for an update and for the key back. And be sure to ask the night staff and any guests if they heard anything around 2, 2:30. Okay?"

"Yes sir." Buzz replied as a nurse called, "Elizabeth March?"

Waving at the nurse, Carlton turned to Beth. "Are you ready?"

She laughed as she shakily picked up her purse. "No, but I might as well get it over with."

"Here, let me take that."

Beth nodded as she handed it over and stood up. Clutching the blanket tighter, she quickly made her way over to the nurse, who was smiling.

Once they were out of sight, Carlton turned back to Buzz. "Is there anything else that you need, McNab?"

Buzz nervously shook his head, "Not really sir. But, if you don't mind, can I ask who that was? I mean, you guys seem kind of close, and I saw her at the station a couple days ago, I was just wondering if she was a sister or a cousin or some, something." When Carlton simply raised an eyebrow, Buzz amended, "Obviously, it is none of my business and you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I'm just going to go now."

Carlton watched Buzz get about 10 feet before he called out, "McNab!"

"Yes sir?" Buzz responded as he turned around.

"You're right, it isn't any of your business, but she's just a friend. Let's just leave it at that and not start any rumors, got it?"

"No sir, I mean yes sir. Your personnel relationships are your business."

"Good, now get started on that report."

Buzz nodded as he quickly turned and left. Carlton smiled, glad that at least some people respected his authority, unlike a certain fake psychic.

* * *

><p>When Beth was finally released an hour later, she was wearing Carlton's workout clothes, which were really big on her. She had a brace on her right hand, her left eye was bruised and she had a butterfly bandage on her forehead.<p>

Lifting her arm, she said, "I guess I'm not trying out for that gig tomorrow, or today since it's almost 5am."

"No, I guess not." Leading the way to the car, Carlton was surprised when Beth leaned into him as they passed people. Putting his arm around her shoulder, he sent glares at those who dared to stare at them.

* * *

><p>Beth ended up falling asleep on the way back to his house. Turning off the engine, Carlton just watched her for a few moments.<p>

"Beth, time to head inside." As he shook her shoulder, Beth flinched and moved farther away from him.

"Sorry, it's just me." Carlton whispered as he backed off.

Taking deep breaths, Beth closed her eyes. "No, it's my fault. I guess I'm still a little freaked out. I'm fine now."

"No you're not."

Laughing, she shook her head. "No, but I will be."

"Okay, now that we have that settled, did you want to go inside or stay in the car all day? Because I wouldn't mind getting something to eat."

"Yeah, let's go in."

It took Beth a couple tries before she was able to get the door open because of her brace. Once inside, she collapsed on the couch. Going into the kitchen, Carlton looked in the fridge.

"Do you want anything to eat? I don't have a lot, but I can make sandwiches or something." Getting no response, he reentered the living room. "Beth?"

She was fast asleep in the corner of the couch. Sighing, Carlton covered her with a blanket. Going back into the kitchen, he made himself a sandwich and then came back into the living room. Figuring that he probably wouldn't be making it into work until after lunch, if at all, Carlton decided to take a nap.


	8. Chapter 8

_**CHAPTER 8**_

His cell phone woke Carlton up for the second time that morning. Stretching, he noticed that Beth didn't seemed fazed at all by the noise. Answering quickly, he went into the kitchen. "Lassiter."

"Hello sir. It's um, it's McNab and I was wondering when you were coming in this morning?"

Carlton looked at the clock while he started the coffee. It was a little after 8, which was half hour after the usual time he shows up.

"Well McNab, I'm not entirely sure. I'm not suppose to be in before 11, but after everything that happened this morning, I'm just don't know when I'll get a chance."

"Okay, well I get off at 9. I can either leave the report on your desk or bring it to you."

Carlton thought about that for a moment. He really didn't want the report just sitting on his desk but he also didn't want Buzz at his house after Beth's reaction earlier. Sighing, he rubbed his forehead. "O'Hara gets in at 9, right?"

"Yes sir. Last I heard."

"Okay. I'll update O'Hara and you can give the reports to her, got it?"

"Yes sir."

"Good." Carlton closed his phone as the coffee maker beeped, signaling that it was done. Pouring himself a cup, he dialed Juliet's number.

"Good Morning, Carlton."

"O'Hara, I need you to stop by my house for about ten minutes before you go in."

"Oh, is anything wrong?"

"Not with me, but I might not be coming in today. I need to update you on a new case."

"Okay, I'll be there in 30."

"Thanks O'Hara."

"No problem Carlton."

Hanging up, he turned around to head back into the living room, only to find Beth standing in the doorway.

"I'm guessing that Juliet is being brought onto the case?" She asked sleepily.

"Yeah. But before she gets here, can I take your statement?"

Nodding, Beth opened the fridge. "Only if you feed me first."

"Sure. How about eggs and pancakes?"

She grabbed a bottle of water. "How about eggs and toast?"

"Okay." Carlton moved around her to get out the eggs, milk and bread.

As he heated the skillet, Beth sat at the kitchen table. "Are you going into work today?"

"No, but I need to at least check in."

Nodding, Beth got up and went into the living room. Coming back with her phone, she smiled, "I almost forgot that I have to call the one manger and reschedule."

Carlton half listened as she explained to the guy why she wouldn't be able to come by today and made a tentative appointment for next week.

Hanging up, Beth sighed, "Wow. Apparently the manger at the pub last night called him and said that he would be a fool not to hire me, even for one night, so he was more than happy to give me another chance."

"That was nice of him," Carlton said as he divided the eggs between two plates.

"He even said that he knows a guitarist that wouldn't mind playing for me if needed." Beth stood up and went into the fridge as Carlton sat down. She came back with butter and ketchup.

"Oh, you're one of those people? Ketchup on eggs?"

Smiling, she buttered her toast. "Yep. My dad is the only other person in my family who does it."

"I just add salt and pepper."

"I'm not really a fan of salt and pepper. If it's suppose to be in it, then fine. Otherwise, I just let it be."

Shaking his head, Carlton concentrated on his food. He ended up finishing before Beth, only because she had to switch hands to eat and was finding it difficult. Placing his plate in the sink, he went to get his notepad and audio recorder.

When he came back, Beth was trying to rinse off her plate one handed. Shaking his head, he reached around her and turned off the water. "I think it's fine for now. I'll get to it later."

"Sorry, force of habit."

"Shall we go into the living room?"

She nodded as Carlton led the way. Sitting in the armchair, he elevated his ankle on the coffee table as she got comfortable on the couch.

"So, what can you tell me about last night?"

Sighing, Beth brushed her hair back. "I came into my motel room around 11:45pm and, after changing clothes, I went straight to sleep. A few hours later, I was awoken by a sound that I couldn't identify. Looking around the room, I noticed that there was a draft coming from the bathroom. I didn't remember opening a window, so I cautiously got out of bed but left the lights off. After closing the window, I returned to my bed. Right before I could crawl in, someone crashed into me from behind, knocking me onto the bed."

Taking a deep breath, she looked at her hands as she continued. "I felt his hot breath on my neck before he spoke. 'Did you miss me, baby? Cause I missed you a lot.' I could tell that Fred had been drinking, because he reeked of alcohol. I tried to throw him off but he grabbed my wrists and flipped me. He kissed me hard while trapping my hands above my head. When he pulled back to get some air, I head-butted him. He retaliated by smacking me a few times, including with his fist. I was slightly dazed as he pulled down my shorts and underwear. He started stro-stroking me down there and that's when I snapped out of it. As he released my one hand to pulled down his own pants, I reached under my pillow and grabbed my stun gun. It affected me too since he was on me, but I got him in the throat and it left him gagging."

As Beth paused to wipe her eyes, Carlton reached over and squeezed her hand. "Are you okay?"

Squeezing back, Beth looked at him and smiled, "Yeah thanks. So, I pushed him off me and ran to the door. I grabbed my purse and sandals and just ran. When I reached the ocean, I stopped and looked around. I didn't see him anywhere, but I had heard tires squealing while I was running. So I just started walking. After about 5 minutes, I called you."

"I'm glad you did." Carlton smiled reassuringly as he checked his notes. "Was there anything else you noticed, like what he was wearing? And I'm going to need a description of him."

Nodding, Beth reached over for her purse. "He was wearing jeans and a dark hoodie. He's about my height at 5 feet, 8 or 9 inches and maybe 160 pounds. Short brown hair, blue eyes and is usually slightly tanned. Here's a picture of him from about a year and a half ago. I don't know why I still have it in my wallet, but I do." She handed over a picture of herself standing with a guy fitting Fred's general description, both in formal clothes. "It was at a mutual friend's wedding. I was one of the bridesmaids and he was an usher. It was such a nice day."

Hearing a knock at the door, Carlton got up. "That's O'Hara, I should let her in."

Nodding, Beth wiped her face. "Do I need to stay, or can I take a shower?"

"No, go ahead. Bathroom is the second door on the left. There are fresh towels in the linen closet across from it. I'll find you some clean clothes and put them in the guest bedroom."

Standing, Beth kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks Carlton, for everything."

"You're welcome," Carlton mumbled as he watched her walk down the hall. An insistent knocking made him growl.

When Carlton opened the door, Juliet started her questioning right away. "So what's up? I know that you hurt your ankle but an injury never stopped you from coming into work before. And what's with your clothes? You look like you just got out of bed."

"Just come in and I'll explain," Carlton growled as he stepped back.

"Fine, but don't get snappy. You called me."

Shaking his head, Carlton led her into the kitchen as he heard the shower starting. Seeing Juliet's face light up, he spoke first. "It's not what you think. Nothing is going on between the two of us. But I did call you over here for her."

"What happened?" Juliet easily stepped into detective mode as Carlton made her a cup of coffee.

"Beth's ex-boyfriend attacked her in her motel room early this morning. She was able to get away and called me. I had McNab start the report and check out her motel room. She's been to the hospital, but I don't want to leave her alone, so I'm probably not coming in today and I need you to follow up on it. Beth just gave me her statement a few minutes ago and has a picture of the guy."

Walking into the living room, he picked up his notepad and the picture. Handing them over to Juliet, he continued. "Here's my notes on some of the more important things. He was wearing jeans and a dark hoodie. Beth said that she got him in the throat with a stun gun, giving her a chance to escape. She called me around 3 so I need you to check the security cameras at her motel between 2 and 3am. She thinks she heard tires squealing away, but she can't be sure. Also get CSU down there and have them check everything."

Copying some things into her own notebook, Juliet looked up. "Do we have a name for the guy?"

Carlton's face fell for a moment as he thought. "Um, Fred something? Let me go ask her."

As he headed down the hall, he heard the water still running so he ducked into his room first to grab her some more clothes. He only had one other pair of sweat pants but quite a few t-shirts. Setting them in the guest bedroom, Carlton made his way back to the bathroom and knocked.

"Beth? I need to ask you one more question." Not getting a response, he knocked again. "Beth?"

Listening carefully, he heard her crying. Not sure what to do, he headed back to the kitchen to find that Juliet had busied herself by washing his dishes.

"What is it with women and washing other people's dishes?" Carlton growled as he stopped in the doorway.

Blushing, Juliet stepped back. "Sorry, force of. . . ."

"Force of habit, I know." Carlton smiled slightly.

She laughed, "So, what did Beth say?"

"Oh, um I did-didn't ask her." He looked down and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Why not?" she crossed her arms.

"Well, it sounds like she's crying."

"Oh, poor dear." Juliet sighed. Checking her watch, she picked up her purse and notebook. "Well, just give me a call when you get a name. I'll go see what Buzz was able to collect."

"Thanks O'Hara. And keep me updated." Carlton walked her to the door.

Smiling, Juliet patted his shoulder. "No problem. And if you need any help, don't hesitate to call."

"Thanks," he muttered as he closed the door behind her.

Heading back down the hall, he was about to knock on the bathroom door again when he heard the water turn off. Hesitating for a moment, he turned around and went back into the kitchen. By the time he finished putting away the dishes, Beth had rejoined him. Drying her hair, she stopped in the doorway.

"So, what are we doing today?"

"Well, I figured after lunch we could stop by the station and then your motel room. Other than that, we can do whatever you want."

Nodding, Beth tried to suppress a yawn. "I think that I'm going to go back to sleep. Wake me up whenever you want to have lunch."

"Will do. Feel free to use the guestroom. Oh, and Beth?"

"Yeah?" She looked at him hopefully.

"We um. What's Fred's last name?"

"Oh," Beth crossed her arms across her chest. "Jackson."

"Thanks." Carlton watched her head down the hall before calling Juliet to not only tell her the name but to have an update ready when he comes in later. Going to his room, he sat down at the computer so that he could transcribe her statement.


	9. Chapter 9

_**CHAPTER 9**_

After taking a shower and straightening the living room and kitchen, Carlton noted that it was nearing noon. Deciding to let Beth sleep a little longer, he ordered some Italian food from a place that delivers. While waiting for it to show up, he went to check on her. Not hearing anything through the door, he lightly knocked. A squeak and something falling met his ears.

"Beth?" He called as he tried the door. The handle turned easily enough but the door wouldn't move. "Beth, are you okay?"

"Ow!" The quiet voice stopped his attempts to get the door open. "Carlton?"

"Yeah, are you okay?"

"I'll be fine."

"What happened?" Carlton started to feel foolish, talking to a door.

Slight laughter met his ears. "I fell off the bed and onto my bad wrist."

Not seeing the humor in that, he asked, "Can I get you anything?"

"No, I'll just take some aspirin. Maybe ice it."

"Okay." Checking his watch, he said, "Lunch will be here soon."

"Thanks."

"I'll just be in the living room." Getting no response, he left her alone.

* * *

><p>Lunch was a quiet affair, each of them picking at their food. After 20 minutes, Carlton put it away and they left.<p>

About 5 minutes into the ride, Beth finally turned towards him. "Can I ask you a favor, Carlton?"

"As long as it doesn't involve breaking the law." He replied automatically, getting a smile from her.

"No, nothing too extreme. I was wondering if I could stay with you for a few days, just until Fred is caught."

Glancing at her as they stopped at a light, he could see how nervous and scared she was. "Sure, no problem."

Sighing, Beth patted his shoulder. "Thanks, that makes me feel so much safer." Turning back to the window, she said, "This sucks. The first guy that I really fall for turns out to be a creep and a psycho."

Carlton drummed on the steering wheel before saying. "I've dated a few psychos."

Facing him again, she smiled. "Really? What were they like?"

"Well, this one girl I dated in college, she was an actress and wore a nose ring."

"That's not too weird."

"I'm pretty sure she was bi-polar, either that or she was a much better actress than I gave her credit for and had a weird sense of humor."

She laughed. "Okay, I'll give you that."

"But seriously, since my separation and consequential divorce, I haven't had much luck. I dated my partner for awhile, until Spencer found us out and let it 'slip' at the station. She transferred after that, 'to be closer to her grandmother.' And then, I met this on lady at a concert and she asked me out on a date. Of course, she didn't tell me beforehand that it was a high school reunion and it ended up being Spencer's, just my luck. Turns out, she had been filling fake prescriptions for years and I got to book her. And don't even get me started on the temporary partner that a few officers, the chief included, thought that I would get along with. It was a disaster."

"Oh, I'm sorry Carlton!" She rubbed his arm. "Fred was my first real relationship. Too bad it ended badly."

"Hey, you're young and, I guess, an attractive young lady."

"You guess?" Beth crossed her arms.

"Yeah, well." He glanced at her as he scratched his neck. "I mean, if I was a few years younger, I might have asked you out."

"What's wrong with asking me out as is?"

"Well, I um. I told you that I wasn't good at dating."

"So? I've only been in one actual relationship, so I can't really judge."

Keeping his eyes focused on the road, Carlton answered, "The truth is, I'm not good at relationships in general. I can count on one hand how many people actually talk to me in a non-work capacity, and one of them is a pain in the ass."

"If it wasn't for Amy, I wouldn't have my two best friends. When I was in my teens, I was only comfortable talking to people younger than me or more than a decade older. When I was in my early twenties, I think I had about 5 real friends. So I kind of know where you're coming from."

Smiling, Carlton pulled into the SBPD parking lot. "I guess you were right, we're more alike than we thought."

"Yeah," Beth smiled.

Turning off the engine, Carlton turned towards her. "Do you want to go in or stay in the car because …."

"No!" Beth practically shouted. Taking a deep breath, she continued "I'm sorry, but I really don't want to be left alone right now."

"Okay, but I'll have to leave you alone for a bit while we're inside."

"That's fine. As long as there are other officers around, I'll be fine."

Nodding, Carlton opened his door. "Then let's go."

* * *

><p>Leaving Beth at his desk, Carlton went looking for Juliet. But before he got far, Chief Vick invited him into her office. Shutting the door behind him, Carlton waited as she surveyed him silently before nodding towards Beth.<p>

"Who's that?" She leaned against her desk and crossed her arms.

"Elizabeth March. She was attacked by her ex-boyfriend early this morning in her motel room. She was able to get away and we're trying to locate the ex. They're both from Ohio, so it might take some time."

"And what's your relationship with her?"

Carlton opened and closed his mouth a few times before clearing his throat. "She's a friend. I just met her last week and have been showing her around in my free time. Spencer and O'Hara have met her as well. They were even at her gig last night."

Nodding, Karen looked back at Beth who was now hugging her knees to her chest and looking out into the bull pen. "I don't want you taking point in this investigation."

"But Chief..."

"No buts. You have a conflict of interest. I'll allow you to be kept informed but I don't want you out investigating. O'Hara and McNab will be perfectly fine without you. Am I clear?"

"Yes Chief."

"Good. Now where is she staying while the ex is still out there?"

"She's um, staying with me." Carlton fidgeted nervously while Karen looked him over again, lingering on his hurt ankle.

"Okay, but you still have a job to do. So make sure she has other plans during the day, preferable with someone she can trust."

"Yes Ma'am."

"Good. And one more thing." Karen walked up to him and patted his arm. "You're a good person for doing this Carlton."

"Thank you Karen."

"You're welcome. Now, I believe that you were looking for O'Hara? She's in the conference room downstairs."

"Okay Chief."

Leaving quickly, Carlton hurried downstairs where he found Juliet looking at a tape. "What do you got O'Hara?"

Pausing the tape, Juliet turned to him. "Well, CSU found some prints and vomit in the room. The stun gun was under one of the beds so they bagged it. The report from the hospital came in a couple hours ago and I was just looking at the security tape from the motel."

Grabbing a seat, Carlton barked, "Then play it."

"Okay," Rewinding it a bit, Juliet narrated as she pressed play. "A blue Ford Focus pulled into the parking lot around 2:15. A male, fitting the suspects description, exited the vehicle and started to look through windows. When, we assume, he found the right one, he went around back."

"Beth said that her bathroom window was open. Do we have footage of him entering the room?"

"Not yet, I called and they're getting it ready." Fast-forwarding, she continued, "Approximately 25 minutes later, Beth comes running out of the room and heads South. The suspect staggers out of the room a few minutes later rubbing his throat before getting in his vehicle and speeding away."

"Do we have the plates yet?"

"No. I'm sending the tape down to forensics to see if they could improve the quality and get it."

"Good work, O'Hara." Standing up, Carlton moved to the door. "I'll be back tomorrow, let me know if anything happens before then."

"Of course."

Nodding, Carlton hurried back upstairs. As he tried to figure out what to do with Beth tomorrow since he didn't want to leave her alone, he spotted Shawn talking to her. She was smiling, which was a good sign. Hopefully Shawn didn't ask her too many questions. With an idea forming in his head, Carlton walked up to the pair.

"And then, Gus went screaming from the scene like a little girl! I mean, I had seen dead bodies a few times from going to the morgue with my dad when I was younger, so I was able to keep myself together. But Gus, I honestly think that he threw up. Sufficient to say, even though we have seen plenty of dead bodies since, Gus still doesn't have much of a stomach for it."

Laughing, Beth said, "The only dead bodies that I've seen have been in caskets or animals. But I have a very strong stomach, so I'd like to think that I'd be able to hold my lunch."

Shaking his head, Carlton asked, "Didn't you once run from a mummy, Spencer?"

"Hey! It was creepy! It was in the front seat, almost like it had been driving the van. I didn't want to be cursed!"

"And yet you had no problem actually laying in it's sarcophagus."

"Of course!" Beth laughed at their easy banter.

Seeing a good opening, Carlton put an arm around Shawn's shoulders. "Do you mind if we speak privately, Spencer?"

"I don't know," Shawn looked at him suspiciously. "These things never seem to end well for me."

"You'll be fine. Excuse us Beth."

"Okay," Beth smiled as they walked a few feet away.

"So, what's up Lassie?" Shawn asked as he tried to put some distance between them.

"I need you to hang out with Beth tomorrow."

"Why? Does this have to do with her being attacked by her ex? "

"Did she tell you that?"

"Nope, the spirits did. Besides, it's obvious that something happened last night and you are not one to hit a lady."

"Thanks, I guess. Anyways, I have to work tomorrow and she's still a bit freaked out and doesn't want to be alone right now, which I completely agree with. Do you think that you can hang out with her?"

"No can do Lassie! Gus and I are meeting a client in the morning, so we'll probably be busy all day."

Sighing, Carlton looked around the precinct. "What about Henry?"

"My dad? You want me to ask my dad to babysit?"

"It's not babysitting! Besides, Beth said that she hasn't been to the Marina yet, he can take her there."

Shawn looked Carlton over before, sighing. "Fine. But you so owe me for this because knowing my dad, he's going to make me do some chores!"

As Shawn went off to find his dad, Carlton headed back to his desk, detouring to Juliet's desk to borrow her chair.

"So, what else is on the agenda today?" Beth asked as she messed with her camera.

Searching through the files on his desk, Carlton mumbled, "I don't know. I didn't really plan anything."

Nodding, Beth took his picture. "How about we go on a hike?"

"I sprained my ankle, remember?"

"Okay, how about the gun range."

"I'm not suppose to bring civilians down there." Looking up, Carlton asked, "Have you ever shot a gun before?"

"Does air soft count?" Beth smiled.

Shaking his head, he grabbed the report on last night's arrest. "I'll think about it."

They lapsed into silence again as Beth looked through her pictures. The mood was broken by the quiet bickering between Shawn and his father. Looking up, Carlton saw Shawn and Henry gesturing. As they got closer, Shawn held up a hand and before coming over while Henry tried to call him back.

"Hey Bethie!" Shawn smiled.

Crossing her arms, Beth glared and said, "The only people who are allowed to call me Bethie are my godfather and relatives under the age of 6. Unfortunately, you don't fall under either category."

Carlton chuckled as Shawn seemed to take a step back from her. "Dully noted. No nicknames except Beth for Miss Elizabeth."

Smiling, Beth stood up and patted his shoulder. "You're lucky that you get to call me Beth. Not even my parents call me that."

"Shawn!" Henry warned as Beth sent a cheeky grin at Carlton.

"Anyways, I would like to introduce you to someone." Grabbing her hand, Shawn led the way to his father. "Beth, this is my old man, Henry Grumpypants Spencer. Dad, this is Miss Elizabeth March."

Smacking Shawn on the back of the head, Henry held out his hand. "Hello Elizabeth. You may call me Henry."

"Beth," She smiled as she shook his hand.

"Oh, he gets Beth right away and I only got an Elizabeth," Shawn sulked.

Smiling at Shawn, she replied, "Well, I have a lot of respect for someone who can put up with you for long periods of time."

Clutching his hand to his chest, Shawn stumbled back a step. "Oh Beth, you wound me."

"Anyways, my idiot of a son said that you haven't had a chance to visit the Marina yet?" Henry crossed his arms in front of him.

"No, I was going to do that today, but I guess plans change." Beth looked down and studied her sandals.

Henry and Shawn had a silent argument before Henry said, "So, have you ever been fishing out on the ocean?"

Ignoring Shawn's groan, Beth smiled. "Nope. I've fished a few times in lakes and rivers, but never the ocean."

"Would you like to join me tomorrow? I have my own boat and I set sail at 5am."

Glancing back at Carlton, Beth sighed. "That'll mean getting up around 4. I usually only see that hour if I stay up most of the night, even then it's likely that I'll fall asleep before hand."

"Well, 5am is a good time, get out before most of the other boats. The sunrise is quite nice as well."

"Okay. I'll see if Carlton can give me a ride."

"Alright."

Beth walked back over to Carlton as Shawn and Henry got into another whispered argument. "So, Henry invited me to go fishing with him tomorrow morning."

Groaning, Carlton leaned back. "I hope you take criticism well. When I first went fishing with him, he critiqued my rod holding for over 3 hours. It was insufferable. I actually pitied Spencer after that, but only until he did something stupid again."

Laughing, she sat on the edge of the desk, "Oh, I think that I'll be fine. So, do you think that you can give me a ride? I need to be there before 5, and I'd rather not be out by myself at that time of day, especially when I'm still not familiar with the city."

Seeing the implied comment, he nodded. "Sure. I'll probably end up coming into work early."

Smiling, Beth stood up. "Thanks. I'll make sure to take plenty of pictures."

Huffing, Carlton said, "I bet you will, as long as Henry doesn't take away your camera for making too much noise."

Laughing, she headed back to the Spencer men as they turned towards her, Shawn with a huge grin and Henry sending a glare at his son. "Carlton said it'll be fine. So I'll see you before 5."

Nodding, Henry said, "Make sure you don't wear baggy clothes, it'll be too easy to get stuck because of loose clothing. Preferably something that you won't mind getting dirty."

Beth blushed as she smoothed out her shirt. "Oh, I'm just borrowing these, but thanks for the warning. I'm quite the tomboy, usually wearing jeans and sneakers. Although I do know how to dress up when the occasion calls for it."

"Good, than I'll see you tomorrow morning. And I'll see both Shawn and Carlton for dinner later that night."

Carlton looked up from his papers and started to object as Shawn whined. "But Henry, I've got a lot of work to do." "Dad, Gus and I are going to be on a case!"

Raising both his hands, Henry looked between the two of them. "I don't care. Shawn you're coming whether you like it or not. You can bring Gus if he's available. And Carlton, you and I both know that you're on desk duty and that nothing's too important that can't wait for the next day."

With that, Henry walked away, muttering about his incompetent son, who decided to follow anyways and try to get out of dinner.

Smiling, Beth made her way back over to Carlton, "You know, I think I like Henry more than Shawn."

Starting to gather some of his things, Carlton replied. "Anyone who's sane prefers Senior to Junior." Looking up, he asked, "But not more than me, right?"

Beth smiled sweetly as she stepped forward. "Aw, you're so cute when you're questioning you're masculinity!"

"I am not." Carlton grumbled as he returned back to organizing.

"You so are! But just so you know, I do like you more than Henry. If nothing else, you have more hair than him." She ruffled his hair as he tried to bat her hand away.

"Need I remind you that I own a gun?"

"Not really. Unless you'll take me to the gun range?"

"No way." Carlton picked up his briefcase.

"Fine."

"Come on, let's get to your motel room so that you can get out of those baggy clothes." Hearing Beth giggle, Carlton groaned. "You know what I mean."

"Yeah," Beth smiled as she took his arm and led the way out of the station.


	10. Chapter 10

_**CHAPTER 10**_

At her motel room, Beth quickly packed all her things, not even stopping to change. Carlton helped out by loading up her car. Once finished, Beth followed Carlton back to his house in her car. He could see how tense she was to drive by herself and tried to drive a bit faster without losing her.

When they got back to his house, Beth quickly unloaded her car and piled the things in the guestroom. Carlton checked his mail as he heard her unpacking. After some silence, she came out in jeans and a fitted t-shirt.

"So, have you decided where we're going yet?" Beth asked as she plopped down next to him on the couch.

"Well, I'm definitely not taking you to the gun range, especially with a brace on you wrist."

Pouting, Beth held up her left arm. "But I've got a perfectly good one right here."

Standing, Carlton took her hand and helped her up. "You need two hands to steady the gun, especially if it's your first time."

"Fine."

"Besides, I've got something more fun planned."

"Oh really? What is it?" Beth smiled as Carlton ushered her out the door and locked it behind them.

"You'll see."

* * *

><p>"Oh yes, this is so much fun. Waiting 2 hours for an arcade to open." Beth said as they sat in his car, staring at a bowling alley.<p>

"I didn't know that it's only opened certain hours." Carlton drummed on the steering wheel.

"Whatever. You so totally owe me a game of bowling later for making me wait."

"Fine. We'll do it next week. So what do you want to do now?"

"I don't know. How about that hike?"

"I told you before, I really shouldn't be walking on my ankle much. Besides, it's suppose to rain later." Beth started laughing. "What? What did I say this time?"

"Nothing," she calmed down a bit and waved her hand between them. "It's just that between your ankle and my wrist, there isn't a lot that we can do together."

Shaking his head, Carlton started the car. "I guess you're right. You want to go grocery shopping? We might as well get it over with, then maybe we can go to the movies later."

"Okay. As long as you're not one of those people who go slowly down every aisle as you go through your little coupon box, making the trip last over 2 hours."

"Oh hell no. I usually get in, get out within a half hour." Carlton pulled into traffic.

"Good. Because I had to stop going shopping with my mom because she'd do that all the time. And then she'd send me on expeditions to find things she forgot or just decided that we needed. Let's just say that I usually got my work out for the week done in that two hours. Admittedly, I do go back and grab some things, but not to the extent that my mom would send me."

"So does that mean that you're an expert at finding things? Because I get lost all the time."

Beth laughed as she patted his arm. "That's because you're a guy and guys always get lost, especially when they're shopping! Although, this one time, Amy and I were going to bake a gingerbread house from scratch and we needed molasses. So we go down the baking aisle, no molasses. We looked near the spices, the sugar, even the candy. No luck. On a whim, I went down the breakfast aisle, and it was with the maple syrup! Seriously? I mean, it kind of made sense since the syrup was next to the pancake mix, but I associate molasses with baking not breakfast."

"So, don't ask you to find molasses." Carlton joked only to get smacked in the arm.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe you had me buy so much stuff! I hardly spend half this amount on groceries in a month, let alone a week." Carlton moaned as he carried in his share of the bags.<p>

"That's because you eat out a lot. I haven't had access to a kitchen in months, so I'm taking advantage of it." Beth started opening cupboards to see where things went. "I offered to pay for it all, but nooo! You have to be the macho man and not let me even chip in a dime."

"Whatever. Just make sure you check the dates on my stuff before you use them. Some of it might have come from when I moved out from with my ex over 5 years ago."

Beth paused while putting some cans away. "You're right. I should do that first. When does the trash get collected?"

"Saturday morning."

"So don't clean out the fridge until later in the week, got it." Beth started looking at boxes and ditching things in the trash.

Taking a seat at the kitchen table and putting up his foot on another chair, Carlton remarked, "I don't have a lot of pots and pans, so you might need to borrow from someone."

Nodding, Beth checked the drawer in the bottom of his stove. "All I really need is 2 pans, a skillet, 2 pots, a casserole dish and maybe a couple bowls. And I doubt that I'll need all of them at once. I think we'll be fine. Maybe I'll check with Henry tomorrow, he seems the type that likes to cook."

"Yeah, mainly fish and beef, so be careful tomorrow."

"Oh, I'm very flexible. There were many times growing up when I only ate the sides."

"Yeah, I know, you told me already." Carlton tried to suppress a yawn.

Laughing, Beth leaned against the counter and looked at him. "You can go take a nap, you know. I'm just going to finish unpacking, maybe bake something."

"Fine. Just don't make too much of a mess." Carlton yawned again as he made his way down the hall.

"Aw, you mean you don't want to play mommy and clean up after me?" Beth asked from the doorway.

"No and if you compare me to a mommy again, I'll kick you out of the kitchen. Maybe leave you at Henry's house tomorrow."

"Oh, you're no fun Carly."

"Don't call me Carly!" He called as he closed his bedroom door, ignoring the amused laughter.

* * *

><p>The first thing Carlton noticed when he woke up hours later was rain hitting the window. Next, the smell of cookies followed by gentle guitar playing, as if the person was trying to make as little noise as possible, which she probably was. Throwing back the covers, he grabbed his cell phone and made his way down the hall.<p>

Stopping in the doorway, Carlton watched as Beth softly sung and strum the chords to an old song that he hadn't heard in years. Waiting until she was done, he quietly said, "That was beautiful."

Smiling, Beth opened her eyes and looked towards him. "Thanks. I'm trying to expand my repertoire. I have a subscription to this one website where I can get the chords and sheet music to most songs." she pointed to the laptop next to her that he hadn't noticed at first. "It's a bit awkward with the brace since I can't really strum, but I'm at least practicing the chord changes."

"Well don't stop because of me. Are those cookies I smell?" Carlton nodded towards the kitchen.

"Yep." Beth smiled as she turned back to her laptop. "Don't eat too many of them, I want to bring some when I go fishing. Possibly for dinner tomorrow as well."

Entering the kitchen to claim some, he called back, "Spencer is obsessed with pineapple, among other things, so I don't think that they'll be too big of a hit with him."

"All guys love food, I bet he'll be fine. Although if you eat so many, I might not have enough for tomorrow." She took one from him as he sat next to her.

"I'm sorry, but I haven't had home baked food in years, unless you count the occasional office parties." Carlton shivered slightly.

"That's okay. Maybe I'll have Henry stop at the store after fishing since he's apparently babysitting me all day."

"Hey, I'm just trying to keep you safe. Do you honestly want to be left alone when Fred can pop up whenever?"

"No, but you could have asked me first!" Taking another cookie, she asked, "So, any requests."

"How about some 80's songs?"

"80's songs? Really?"

"Hey! I was in high school in the 80's, and you've probably heard a lot of them growing up." Carlton poked her arm.

"I know and they're making a come back, especially with Guitar Hero and Rock Band. My main concern is how general you're being. You can't narrow it down to artist or genre or something?"

"Okay, how about The Police?"

Smirking, Beth said, "Seriously? Were they like your favorite band growing up or something?"

"One of my favorites, yeah. I'll admit that I almost got tickets when they reformed a couple years ago but I never got the time. Besides, they have great songs. _Roxanne._"Beth giggled as he started singing obnoxiously. "_you don't have to put on the red light._"

"Okay! I'll play some Police if you'll just stop singing!" She turned back to her computer and pulled up a file. "I'm glad that I learned this song a few months ago for a cousin."

"Your cousin likes The Police?"

"Yeah, well my cousin is weird. She's in law enforcement as well. She's very good at music, so we had a couple of jam sessions while I was in the area."

"Can she sing too?"

"Almost as good as you." Beth smirked as she picked up her guitar.

"Just so you know, I can sing a lot better than that. Not solo or choir level, but still well enough for singing in the shower."

"So what you're saying is that I should stand in the bathroom while you're singing butt-naked in the shower?"

He groaned as he rubbed a hand down his face. "I swear I'd be better off with Spencer."

"Nah, you'd just shoot him after the first hour. I'm too cute to shoot."

"True, and there would be too much paperwork, and possible jail-time. Although I would plead self-defense, temporary insanity and doing it for the greater good."

Starting to strum, she smiled at him before singing,

"_Though I've tried before to tell him_

_Of the feelings I have for him in my heart_

_Every time that I come near him_

_I just lose my nerve_

_As I've done from the start"_

Carlton laughed as she stood up to jump up and down, affecting her strumming a bit.

"_Every little thing he does is magic_

_Every thing he does just turns me on_

_Even though my life before was tragic_

_Now I know my love for him goes on-on-on_

"I don't think that those are the right lyrics." Carlton said as Beth collapsed next to him.

"Yeah, well I claim artistic freedom and interpretation."

"Especially with that spin and hair flip."

Laughing, Beth slapped his knee. "Of course. Now, are we going out to dinner or am I making something?"

"You already bought the food, you might as well make something."

"Okay, how do you feel about hot dogs and beans?" Beth stood up and set down her guitar.

"I'd say that it's lunch food not dinner."

Smiling, she reached out her hand. "Not the way I make them. Come on, I'll teach you. It takes 30 minutes tops and makes great leftovers."

"Lead on Paula Dean."

"Please, I'm more of a Rachael Ray girl, even have all of her cookbooks at home."

* * *

><p>"I have to admit, this is really good." Carlton said as he finished his plate.<p>

"I'm glad you like it. I hardly ever make it for just myself and very few guests that I have over will eat it. I think I've only had it about a dozen times since I moved out of my parent's house ages ago."

"Well, whenever you visit Santa Barbara, you're welcome to make it for me, as long as it isn't too often."

Beth laughed as she started collecting their plates. "Thank you for the invite. I told you that guys love food, especially when they don't have to make it themselves."

Shaking his head, Carlton started looking through his tuber ware collection. "I think I'll have to buy a few more containers if you'll be cooking a lot."

Rinsing off the plates and setting them in the sink, Beth turned around laughing. "So, where are we going tonight?"

"I was thinking the movie theater. I don't know what's playing, but we're bound to find something that we can both agree on."

"Okay, just let me grab my wallet and camera." Beth smiled as she left the room.

"Ah yes, the camera. Can't forget the camera," he mumbled

"I heard that." She sang as she entered the guest room.

Carlton just smiled as he put on his coat.


	11. Chapter 11

_**CHAPTER 11**_

The next day went smoothly for Carlton. After having to drag a sleepy houseguest out of bed, he dropped Beth off at Henry's boat with minutes to spare. Deciding not to go back home, he stopped for some coffee before heading into work. Nothing major happened and Juliet didn't have any more news on the elusive Fred Jackson.

As Carlton made his way to the Spencer household that evening, he spotted Shawn standing at the edge of the yard watching Beth and Henry talking at the grill. "Spencer," he greeted gruffly.

"Hey Lassie. You know, I think that you have some competition."

"What do you mean?"

"You don't see it?" Shawn pointed as Henry and Beth both started laughing.

Carlton shrugged as he crossed his arms, "They seem fine."

"They're bonding! I figured they'd get along at the very least, none of the petty fights he and I get into or like when Nigel St. Nigel was staying here. But it's so creepy how well they're getting along, almost like she's his long lost niece."

"Or daughter," Carlton chimed in as Henry affectionately gave her a side hug.

"Oh my pineapple, you're right! She's like the daughter he never had! Fishing, cooking, interested in police work. Did you know that she was helping him repaint the porch earlier today? Was even smiling while she was doing it!"

"What's wrong Spencer? Afraid of a little competition?" Carlton smirked.

"So not funny Lassie!" Shawn whined as he stomped his foot.

"Hey! Are you girls going to join us or gossip like teenagers?" Henry called out as he turned off the grill.

"Yeah! I don't even think I gossiped that much when I was in high school." Beth teased as she took a plate of corn on the cob and made to follow Henry inside.

Shaking his head, Shawn bounded for the house. "I thought that you were more of a tomboy?"

Stopping at the door, Beth smiled. "I'm also a Christian and it says in the bible that you're not suppose to talk about people behind their backs."

Moving past Shawn, Carlton took the plate from her. "You're telling me that you never told stories about someone who wasn't there?"

"Well, the bible also says that 'all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.' The key is to ask for forgiveness and actually mean it. Besides, I've always been a little rebel!" Beth smiled widely as they moved into the kitchen.

"Okay you kids, cut that out. I'd like to eat sometime today while the food is still warm." Henry said as he grabbed a few things out of the oven.

"Oh dad, that smells delicious," Shawn said as he tried to dip his finger in the potato dish.

Slapping the hand away, Henry set the dishes on the table. "Thank you, but Beth made it, including dessert."

"There's dessert!" Shawn's eyes got huge as he looked between Beth and Henry.

Smiling, Beth took the seat opposite from Carlton so that the Spencers had to at least sit across from each other. "Yes Shawn. It's pineapple and banana crème pie and you'll get some later."

Practically salivating, Shawn sat next to Beth. "Will you marry me?"

Laughing, Beth said, "I don't know. From the stories your dad has told me about you, I'd be very hard-pressed to agree."

"Dad! What have you been telling her?" Shawn demanded as his dad started serving the fish.

"Nothing that wasn't true."

"Come on Shawn, it wasn't that bad. Most of us at one time or another ran around the house in capes or tried to parachute off the roof." Beth said as she failed to hide her smile.

"Dad!" Shawn whined.

Patting Shawn's arm, Beth said. "I might have done the cape around the house, but I never tried to parachute off the roof." She picked up her glass and muttered before drinking. "We jumped off the furniture."

Looking her over, Carlton smiled, "Now that sounds like an interesting story."

Winking at Carlton, she turned towards the other two. "Well, when I was 5 or 6, we were hopping across the furniture in one of the bedrooms. Now at the time, there were 5 of us kids in 2 bedrooms, so plenty of beds and dressers around. We'd pretend that the floor was made of lava and race around. One day, we were playing like usual and Jo, who was 9 or 10, fell and bit through her lip. Pretty nasty cut, not enough for stitches but definitely a bandage. And of course the next day had to be picture day and my parents still have the pictures somewhere."

Leaning forward, Carlton smirked, "So who pushed her?"

Smiling, Beth stared him dead on. "Okay one, my parents shouldn't have put the furniture in jumping distance of each other. Two, she was the older sister, she should've known better than to play on furniture. Three, I was 5 or 6 at the time and I don't remember much about it. And four, Amy and I have always been competitive. So if it was me who pushed her, Amy was probably right behind me, ready to push me out of the way."

Grinning, Shawn said, "I would have so busted you at the time."

"Come on, I was 5! I was just following my older sister!"

"Another reason why I'm glad Shawn never had younger siblings. Who knows what else trouble he might have gotten into if he had a minion or two who would do whatever he wanted." Henry chimed in as he ate his fish.

"What about Guster? He seems to go along with Spencer pretty well."

"Hey! Dog on me all you want but leave Gus out of this! Besides, Gus was more like Jiminy Cricket. He would try and tell me not to do something and 9 times out of 10 I'd ignore him. But that one time that I'd listen, he'd save my hide, either from injury or punishments."

There was silence for a few seconds before Henry asked, "So Beth, how many siblings do you have? You talked about Jo and Amy but you also mentioned a brother?"

"Yeah. I'm the middle of 5. Meg is older than me by 8 and a half years, then Jo by 4 years. Amy is 10 months younger and Bobby is 3 years younger. Us younger three have always been closest, especially Amy and Bobby, while I've always been a bit of a loner. Anyways, Amy and Meg are both married to their high school sweethearts and Jo is engaged. Amy has a son, Adam, who she is already teaching to play soccer at 14 months. Meg has a boy and a girl, 10 and 7 respectively. Wes is a bit of a musician, he'll be better than me, mainly because he's taking private lessons, and Kate is an artist like Meg."

"Wow. What about you? Do you want to have children?"

"Dad!" Shawn tried to warn him.

Beth just smiled and played with her food. "Not in the biological sense. Since I was in my teens, I've always had this idea of adopting kids. Especially those in their teens who are close to being out of the system. I think that those are the ones who need the most love and attention, give them hope." Beth laughed. "Which would work for me because I'm not very good with babies. I was okay with my niece and nephews once they were around 6 months, but never for long periods of time. I'm more comfortable when they can talk and walk for themselves. Preferably when they're toilet trained too."

"What about your pets?" Carlton asked. "I mean, you have to teach them to use the litter box or let you know when they want to go outside."

Beth smiled again. "Not unless you get them when they're a few years older, then all you have to do is the minor behavior adjustments, like no begging and slowing down on walks." Sighing, Beth picked up her cup. "I miss my pets. That's the only real down side of this adventure, that I'm away from them for so long."

"Who's taking care of them?" Shawn asked as he leaned forward.

"Well, my best friend's younger sister Crissy is just out of college, so she's house sitting while I'm gone, which includes taking care of my pets."

"That's nice of her." Henry said as finished his food.

"Yeah, I just wish I was home. Not that it isn't awesome to met you guys, because I haven't been invited into anyone's life like this since I've been on the road."

Shawn gently punched her in the shoulder, "We're glad that we could made your stay in sunny Santa Barbara that much more enjoyable."

"Thanks." Shaking her head, she smiled. "Oh man, another thing is that I've never really talked this much at one time before. Usually, I'm the back of the crowd, attentive listener, only participating when I have to and feel like I can really contribute type of person."

"In other words, you're the complete opposite of Shawn." Henry said as he started collecting the dishes.

"Hey! I should take offense to that!" Shawn said.

"Good!" Henry slapped him in the back of the head. "Help me clean up the dishes. You two can go out onto the porch if you want."

"Can you arrest him for child abuse, Lassie!"

"Nope," Carlton replied as he stood up.

"How about unnecessary roughness?" Shawn said as Henry slapped him again for not getting up yet.

"Then I'd have to arrest myself, and I'm not going to do that for you."

Smiling, Beth ruffled Shawn's hair. "Come on Shawn, I thought you wanted dessert? You know that you usually have to work for it."

"Not fair!" Shawn whined as he finally got up and grabbed some things.

Laughing, Beth joined Carlton on the porch. They sat on the wicker love seat and watched the sunset.

"So, how was fishing with Henry?" Carlton asked as he heard the two Spencers bickering again.

Leaning her head on his shoulder, Beth replied, "It was fine. He showed me how to bait, hold the rod, and when I finally got a bite, how to reel it in. The reeling in was hard with the brace and he had to help me. It was really quiet but so beautiful! The sunrise was gorgeous, I got so many pictures. I got a few of Henry, in most he didn't even realize that I took them. While taking a break from holding the pole, I fell asleep." Beth blushed a bit as she covered her face.

"What did he do?" Carlton asked as he awkwardly wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"Well, when I woke up an hour later, he was still fishing, but there was a blanket over me. I looked through my camera and he had taken a couple pictures of me too. Anyways, I asked him what time it was and he told me, as well as mentioning that we would be heading back to shore within the hour, so if I wanted to have another go that I should hurry up."

"That was nice of him."

Yawning, Beth nodded. "Yeah, then after we got back and packed up his truck, we wandered around the Marina a bit and ate lunch. We stopped at a grocery store and I offered to help him around the house, since it was the least I could do. We ended up painting the porch and are going to start on the rest of the house tomorrow."

"Spencer told me that it was freaking him out, the camaraderie between the two of you. First he was telling me that I had competition with Henry."

"Hmm, so not true," Beth mumbled sleepily.

"Yeah, then he started telling me about how you were like the niece that Henry never had. I mentioned that it was more like a daughter and you should have seen how pale he got! He's actually a little scared that his dad might like you better than him. I think that it's hilarious. I know that they care for each other but to think that he actually has competition?"

"Mmhm."

Looking down, Carlton saw that Beth's eyes were closed and that her breathing had slowed down. Smiling, he stretched his legs out. Still hearing the Spencers talking, Carlton closed his eyes and tightened his hold on Beth's shoulder.


	12. Chapter 12

_**CHAPTER 12**_

"Carlton. Carlton."

The shaking of his left shoulder woke Carlton up. Yawning, he rubbed his face, realizing that there was a weight on his right side. Looking down, he saw that Beth was still sleeping on him.

"As cute as you two are, ("Ew! Seriously Dad? Calling Lassie cute?") Shawn would really like to have some pie and he's been annoying me for the last hour while you two have been sleeping."

Carlton looked up to see Henry standing over him and Shawn hovering in the doorway. "Yeah, sorry about that."

"Come on dude! Less talky more getting uppy!" Shawn whined.

"Shawn! Get inside the house before I send you home without desert!" Henry growled.

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Shawn! I'm warning you!"

Sighing, Shawn slinked inside muttering "So not fair!"

"I'm about ready to ring his neck. Than you'll have an excess to arrest me like he wanted. But by then, he'd probably be dead."

Laughing, Carlton stretched a bit. "Yeah, okay. We'll be in soon."

As Henry left, Carlton turned back to Beth. She seemed so peaceful that he was dreading to wake her up just to appease Shawn. Hearing Shawn threatening to throw water on them, Carlton sighed and shook her shoulder. Beth moaned a bit and seemed to curl into him more.

"Beth, it's time to wake up."

"Don't wanna." She whined.

"If we don't get up soon, Spencer is going to throw water on us."

"No he won't because he knows that you'll shoot him after I give him a beating." She sighed as she opened her eyes. "Hi."

"Hi," Carlton smiled.

"How long were we asleep?"

"About an hour, give or take."

Sitting up, Beth yawned. "I'm surprised that Shawn lasted that long with the promise of dessert."

"Yeah me too." Standing, he offered her his hand. "Come on. We better get inside before they get into another fight."

Smiling, she stood. "Okay."

As they walked into the house, Shawn exclaimed, "Finally!" followed by an "Ow!" as what was obviously a smack to the head was heard.

Laughing, Beth turned to Carlton with a smile, "What if I said that I wasn't ready for dessert and that I think we should wait another hour?"

"I'd have to say that you're a wicked little tease! I withdraw my proposal!" Shawn quickly moved out of his dad's reached as Henry groaned.

Faking a southern accent, Beth replied, "Why don't you say it, you coward? You're afraid to marry me. You'd rather live with that silly old fool who can't open her mouth except to say yes, no and raise a couple of brats just like her!"

"What?" Shawn crossed his arms.

"You lead me on, you made me believe you wanted to marry me!" Shawn looked on speechlessly as Henry tried to hide a smirk. "You did! I'll hate you till I die! I can't think of anything bad enough to call you!"

Smiling, Beth walked over to help Henry with the pie. Henry laughed as Shawn and Carlton looked at her stunned.

"Can I just adopt you?" Henry asked as he hugged her shoulders.

"Oh, I don't know. That'll mean being related to Shawn."

"Eh, you just got to know how to ignore him."

"What just went on here?" Shawn asked as he joined them.

Smiling, Henry handed Shawn the plates. "I believe you were just one upped on obscure movie references."

"That was from a movie?" Shawn looked at Carlton who was shaking his head. "Did you know that, Lassie?"

"Yeah, it's from _Gone With The Wind,_ although you've probably never seen it."

Groaning, Shawn sat at the table. "You mean that movie from the 1930's that has a whole bunch of quotable lines but is like 4 hours long!"

Sitting down across from Shawn, Beth recited "I can't let him go. I can't. There must be some way to bring him back. Oh, I can't think about this now! I'll go crazy if I do! I'll think about it tomorrow. But I must think about it. I must think about it. What is there to do? What is there that matters? Tara! Home. I'll go home. And I'll think of some way to get him back. After all... tomorrow is another day!"

Laughing, Carlton sat next to her. "I can't get over that accent. You should have been a actress or something."

"Oh no, It took me years to perfect it. Besides, I have a bit of stage fright. I'm fine with a small crowd, but if it gets too big, I get nervous."

"I think that you sound fine and have nothing to worrying about." Henry said as he served the pie.

Smiling, she replied, "Thanks. I tell myself that every time, but it doesn't help."

"It just takes practice."

"Yeah, I know. It took me over 5 years to get comfortable in front of even the smallest of crowds. I barely sung in the car unless it was under my breathe or everyone else was singing."

"Mmm, this is delicious!" Shawn exclaimed as he eat his pie. "Can I put that marriage offer back on the table?"

Smiling, Beth shook her head. "No, sorry. I don't go for guys who ping pong on issues, especially important ones like marriage."

"I'd be surprised if he gets married before he loses his hair," Henry chimed in.

"Dad! Why is it gang up on Shawn night?"

"Because you're finally outnumbered kiddo and I think you've met your match."

Smiling innocently, Beth ate her pie quietly as Carlton tried not to choke on his.

* * *

><p>When Carlton pulled up to Henry's house the next day after work, he saw that about half of the first floor was painted. Walking around the house, he found Henry sitting on the porch drinking some beer.<p>

"Hey Carlton."

"Henry." Looking around, Carlton frowned. "Where's Beth?"

Henry pointed his beer bottle towards the ocean. "She went for a swim. Said she didn't want to get paint all over my house. I told her it was fine but she just smiled and said that she hadn't had many chances to just swim in the ocean yet."

"Oh, okay." Carlton started making his way down to the beach.

"Hey Carlton." Looking back, Henry was holding up a towel and some clothes. "She doesn't have any other clothes with her and she's going to be cold. I figured some of Shawn's old stuff should at least keep her warm."

Nodding, Carlton went to collect the items. "Yeah, she has a habit of being underdressed."

"I'm surprised she showed up in shorts and a t-shirt in this weather."

"Well, she's from the Midwest and is accustomed to colder temps." Laughing, Carlton shook his head. "She told me that she use to call herself a chameleon since she would be fine in almost every temperature, no matter what she was wearing."

"Well, as long as she doesn't get sick. But you should probably drag her out, it's been about a half hour and that water's cold."

"Yes sir." Carlton nodded as he made his way to the ocean.

It only took him a few minutes before he found Beth standing about knee deep in the water, hugging her arms to her chest and shivering.

"Hey!" He called. When Beth looked at him, she smiled. "Get over here!"

"Yes mother," She laughed as she ran towards him.

Holding the towel and clothes away from her, Carlton glared, "You know, I probably shouldn't give these to you for that remark."

Whining, she stomped her feet. "Come on C-carlton! I'm cold!"

Handing over the towel, he said, "You're the one running around in the water with no dry clothes nearby. Even though it's almost 70 degrees out, the water's got to be near 50."

"I'm sorry, but it was so tempting!" Beth quickly dried off her hair before taking off her shirt.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" Carlton quickly looked away.

Sighing, she took the shirt out of his relaxed grip. "I'm just changing shirts. I've got a sports bra on, that's more coverage than some of those so called bikini tops I've seen a few women wearing."

"Yeah, well warn a guy next time. I'm not one to look at bare flesh."

"Aww," Beth reached up and kissed his cheek. "You're so sweet! Such a gentlemen." She then wrapped the towel around her waist as she changed out of her shorts. "I learned this trick on mission trips where we used locker rooms to shower. I got very good at showering and changing quickly."

"As long as you don't have me time you, I don't care." Giving her a once over in the baggy jeans and t-shirt, he snorted. "You look like you're trying to join a gang."

She laughed at that as she collected her clothes. "That would be an interesting discussion with my family. What did you do in Santa Barbara? Nothing much. Sight seeing, hung out with a couple detectives, joined a gang. You know, the usually stuff. Now let's go! I'm hungry."

Beth started to pull him forward as he remarked. "You're not sitting in my clean car with those wet clothes."

Beth smiled at him coyly as she let him catch up. "I could always take them off."

"No, then I'd have to arrest you for public indecency." Carlton tried not to blush.

"Oh, and we don't want that." She took his hand as they reentered Henry's yard. "Thanks for the clothes and towel, Henry. I'll bring them back tomorrow."

Henry smiled as he stood up. "That's fine sweetheart, just be sure to bring extra clothes in case you decide to go for another swim."

Smiling, Beth gave him a quick hug before picking up her bag and shoes. "Well, see you tomorrow. I promised Carlton that I'll make another one of my family recipes."

"You know, you can come over here and cook with me anytime you want. Shawn is almost always up for a free meal."

Giggling, Beth rejoined Carlton at the bottom of the steps. "I think about it for tomorrow. Bye Henry."

"Good night kids."

"Goodnight sir." Carlton replied as he led the way to his car, Beth bouncing around him. "I can't believe that you are this hyper after working all day."

"What can I say, I love physical labor." Beth waited as Carlton unlocked the car and got in. "Besides, it took longer than I thought with a hurt wrist. And Henry wouldn't let me up on the ladder, so the highest I could go was about 8 feet with a chair."

"I take it that he was on the ladder?"

"Yep. But because I was on the ground, I was in control of the radio. Although there were a few times when he didn't like what I picked."

"Different generation." Carlton commented as they pulled out of the driveway.

"I know, but I started with my iPod and it has plenty of rock songs as well as 80s, 90s and show tunes. He mainly didn't like the 80s because it was what Shawn blasted when he was younger. After lunch I just put a classic rock station on."

"At least you agreed on something."

"Yeah, good thing he isn't one of those classical music nuts. I mean, I love classical, just not for hours on end."

Carlton laughed. "Yeah, just stick with rock, that's good for everyone."

They lapsed into silence again before Beth nervously asked, "So, um, how's my case going?"

Carlton looked over to see uncertainty on her face. "Well, we ah…."

"Please be honest with me."

Nodding his head, Carlton said, "We haven't been able to locate Fred yet. We've got plenty of evidence but he's either staying in his car or under an alias. We're currently circulating his photo to all the hotels and bars in a 10 mile radius, but that's a lot of places. It'll take time."

Beth sighed as she looked out the window. "And until you find him, I just have to be on my guard at all times. This sucks." She slouched down in her seat.

"Yep. But we'll find him. I've sent out a BOLO to your hometown in case he heads back, but I doubt he will."

"Yeah." Shaking her head, Beth pointed across the street. "Can you stop there? I need something for dinner."

"Sure." Carlton cautiously made his way across traffic to the grocery store.

* * *

><p>"Now, who's recipe did you say this was?" Carlton asked as they were cleaning up.<p>

"Well. The original beef and pasta dish was something that my great-grandmother made during the great depression to help stretch stuff. My mom modernized it a bit by adding in all these different types of vegetables and shortening the cook time. And then Amy and I tweaked it even more by adding the different cheeses and the sides. Amy is always thinking of new ways to mix ordinary ingredients. She once made chicken noodle soup with ramen noodles."

Carlton paused as he washed dishes. "I guess I could see that. Did she use the seasoning packets?"

"Yep. I'm not really a fan of ramen but that soup was good. She should have been a cook or at least write a cookbook. She is always the one in charge for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners." Beth smiled as she sponged the counters. "And now, it's time for a movie. Do you got anything good?"

"Probably not but there's usually something on tv."

"Okay." She bounced into the living as Carlton shook his head.

Putting the towel down, he followed her, calling out, "If I had half as much energy as you, I don't think I'd ever need coffee."

Beth giggled as she started flipping channels. "Well, Amy and Bobby were always very hyper, so I of course had to learn to keep up. Amy had to put a restriction on how much pop Bobby had in the evenings or else he'd never go to sleep."

"How about you? Did you have any restrictions?"

"Oh my goodness, no! There were very few times that I ever got super hyper and I can count them on one hand. They usually coincided with lack of sleep and plenty of sugar. I'm afraid that I was on the heavy-side in high school and for about 5 years afterwards. So if anything, I needed more energy."

Carlton looked her over. "You look pretty healthy now."

Beth smiled widely at him. "Thank you. It took over a year of watching what I ate and being more active, but I lost close to 70 lbs, which was almost a third of my weight. For the first time in over a decade and a half I was wearing the same clothes as Amy."

"Wow. Impressive."

"Yeah, well, I've gained about 20 of that back in the last 3 years, but who cares if I'm a little pudgy! I'm still smaller than high school and I'm fine with it."

"Maybe you should go to schools and give talks. I think you'd be great at that."

Beth laughed as she settled on Forest Gump. "I'll think about it, but I told you I'm not good at public speaking."

"Like I've said before, you'll be fine." Groaning, Carlton reached for the remote only to get smacked away. "Really? You like this movie?"

"Of course. It's so inspirational and funny and I haven't seen it in a few years!"

"Can we please change it?"

Sighing, Beth grabbed the remote. "Fine. But we're going to watch Happy Feet. And I'm not changing it!"

After watching it for a few seconds, Carlton asked, "Penguins? We're watching singing penguins?"

"Yes. But it's like the story of the ugly duckling, so the main character is a penguin that can't sing but can tap dance, hence Happy Feet. If nothing else, it's got a lot of great songs."

"Okay. We'll see."

"Thank you." Kissing him on the cheek, she settled against him and rested her head on his shoulder.

Sighing, Carlton wrapped his arm around her and pulled a blanket over them.


	13. Chapter 13

**Warning: This is where the rated M and sensitive material stuff comes in. There's cussing and rape. You've been warned!**

**This is also where I start flipping to other people's POVs.**

**And I wrote this chapter before I wrote the slightly similar part in my other story (you'll know it when you read it) **

* * *

><p><em><strong>CHAPTER 13<strong>_

Beth was bopping a bit to the radio as she was painting the side of the house. They had been at it all morning, starting around 8 when Carlton dropped her off, and it was nearing lunch time.

Climbing down the ladder, Henry said, "Hey Beth. I'm going to head to the store to get some deli meat for lunch. Anything in particular that you want?"

Smiling, Beth looked over at him as she continued painting. "Either turkey or chicken, your choice."

"Turkey it is. I'll be back in 20 minutes." Henry patted her on the back.

"Thanks." Beth turned back to the house as another song started playing. Singing along, her dancing got a bit more adventuresome and she almost fell over once or twice. When the song was over, she turned around to get a drink and stopped at the sight of the figure 5 feet away from her.

"You know, I think I've missed your singing the most these last few months."

Taking a few steps back only to have him follow, Beth said, "What are you doing here, Fred?"

Smiling, Fred looked her over, taking in her jean shorts and tank top. "I've come to claim what's mine."

"You don't own anything, especially not me!" Beth growled as she took a threatening step forward.

Unfortunately, Fred also stepped closer and grabbed her wrists. "I had to watch for over two years as you flirted with me in your skin tight clothes but I was never allowed to touch where I wanted. Just because you lost a lot of weight since high school, doesn't mean that you can just tease people like that. I think I've waited long enough."

Fred pushed Beth until they were up against the house and then kissed her hard. Unable to move with Fred's body pressing her into the house, she bit his tongue. He stepped away immediately and slapped her face. Stomping on his foot, Beth pushed him away and ran into the house. Locking the door, she ran into the kitchen where her phone was and immediately called Carlton.

* * *

><p>Since there wasn't a lot to do today, Carlton and Juliet had gone out to get some fast food for lunch. His phone rang as they were walking back to the car and he answered without looking at the caller ID.<p>

"Lassiter."

"Carlton, he's here, Fred's here." He could here the panic in Beth's voice right away and started running to the car, tossing the keys to Juliet.

"Okay. Where's Henry?"

"He left for the store to buy groceries about 5 minutes ago. He said that he'd be gone 20 minutes…. Oh God."

Slamming the car door, Carlton almost missed her near whispered proclamation. "What? What is it?" Covering the phone, he barked. "Spencer house, now!"

"Henry. He's, he's laying in the driveway near his truck and he's not moving and there's blood on his forehead." Beth's breathing started to increase.

Carlton kept his voice calm as they pulled out of the parking lot. "Okay, Beth? I need you to calm down! O'Hara and I will be there in 8-10 minutes tops. Now where is Fred?"

"He's trying to get in the front door. Oh no, now he's breaking the widow! What do I do?"

"You need to go upstairs, okay? Go into Henry's room and lock the door. Beth, you need to move now!"

"Okay, okay I'm going."

Carlton heard heavy breathing as Beth ran up the stairs. Turning towards O'Hara, he asked "How much longer?"

"I don't know, the traffic's bad."

"Then use the sirens!"

"It's not going to help much!" Juliet snapped as her hands tightened on the steering wheel.

"Call for backup and an ambulance. Henry's down and we don't know what this psycho is capable of."

Beth's shaky voice reached him at that point. "I'm there."

"Okay, I need you to try and barricade the door."

After a few moments of rummaging, she whispered, "There's nothing here! Everything's too big!"

"Alright, plan B. Go to Henry's bed. There's probably a gun in one of the side tables." Ignoring Juliet's snapped "Carlton!" he continued, "I want you to take it out and move away from the door, but don't corner yourself in."

"I've never shot anyone before."

"I know, but hopefully it'll scare him off before you have to use it. If not, then pretend that you're playing air soft and aim for the leg or arm."

"I was never very good at air soft."

"You'll be fine. Mainly all you have to do is ground yourself, aim and shoot. It's easy. Henry's an ex-cop, so it should already have a bullet chambered, just remember to take the safety off."

"Oh, God. He's at the door and he's attacking it!" Beth whispered as Carlton heard Fred's amused voice. "Come on Bethie, I just want to have some fun!"

"I'm scared Carlton."

"I know. But O'Hara and I will be there soon. Now, when he comes in, you're going to have to put down the phone."

"No, please don't!"

"I'm sorry, but you'll have to in order to get a better grip." Hearing the door break, Carlton ordered, "Put the phone down now! I'll still be here, I'm not hanging up."

"Okay," Beth whispered.

Hearing the phone being placed on a hard surface, Carlton listened carefully as Fred entered the room and started taunting her.

"Aw, are we role playing now? I'm the bad criminal and you're the cop who's going to bring me in?" Fred laughed as Beth spoke somewhat strongly.

"You are a criminal."

"Come on, Bethie, put the gun down."

"No! Don't come any closer."

"See? We're already having so much fun, we're even in a bedroom."

"I said stop." Beth's voice started to falter as Fred's voice got closer.

"No. Now that I've got what is rightfully mine, I'm never gonna let you go."

A shot was fired as something bumped into the table with the phone on it. He heard Beth scream before the call cut off.

"NO DAMNIT!" Carlton yelled as he hit the dash with his fists.

"Carlton, what happened?" Juliet tried to keep her voice even.

"He has her right now and I'm not there to protect her. We need to get there now!"

"We're still at least 2 miles away!"

"I don't care! Get there faster!" Carlton drummed his fingers as Juliet sped around a corner.

* * *

><p>Slightly dazed, Beth tried to rub her forehead, only to discovered that both her hands were trapped above her. Looking up, she noticed that they were handcuffed to the bed. Hearing laughter, she snapped her head towards the figure next to her. Fred was standing there in nothing but his underwear. Looking down, Beth saw that she was completely naked with her legs spread and feet tied to the bed.<p>

"You know, you really are a fine piece of ass, if I do say so myself." Fred rubbed a finger down his erection.

"Get the hell away from me." Beth growled as she stared at the ceiling.

"Aw, but we're going to have so much fun!" Fred climbed on the bed and straddled her hips.

"No, get off of me!" She tried to dislodge him as he grinded into her.

Fred grabbed Henry's gun of the end table and pressed it to her forehead. "No no no! We played by your rules for over two years, now it's my turn." Once she stopped struggling, he reached down a finger to start to prep her.

"No stop, please!" Beth begged as tears started to slip down her face.

"If you say so."

Fred stood up but didn't get off the bed. Glancing over, she saw him taking off his underwear. Closing her eyes, Beth felt Fred kneel back down before laying on top of her.

Putting his mouth near her ear, Fred growled. "I was going to make it easy for you, but I guess you like it rough."

Pulling back silently, he grabbed her breast as he lined himself up and pushed in, causing Beth to scream in pain.

* * *

><p>They had barely pulled up to the driveway when Carlton jumped out. Spotting Henry on the ground, he whispered to Juliet. "Check on him and then follow me in." Not waiting for a response, he headed for the front door.<p>

Being careful not to disturb any evidence, Carlton pulled out his gun and made his way slowly inside. After clearing the first floor and messaging it to Juliet, he proceeded up the stairs. About halfway up, his steps faltered as he heard a heart wrenching scream.

Sprinting the rest of the way, Carlton burst into the room, yelling, "SBPD Freeze!"

Laughter and crying both met his ears. "I'm sorry officer, but we're a bit busy right now. You should come back later."

Resisting the urge to charge at the bastard, Carlton tried again. "Step away from the bed right now!"

"I told you that we're busy!" Fred growled as he waved the gun around before placing it back at Beth's forehead.

A whimper escaped Beth as she turned towards him, tears running down her face. "Carlton, help!"

"SHUT UP BITCH!" He pistol-whipped her on the cheek, eliciting a cry, before grabbing her chin. "Mine is the only name that you should be saying in bed!"

"Put down the gun and get off of her now before I blow your brains out!" Carlton growled.

Laughing, Fred didn't even look at him. "You don't have a shot, you'll hit her." He bent down and lick her neck as he pushed in farther.

Hearing her whimper again, Carlton readjusted his aim and shot.

"God dam bastard! What the hell?" Fred collapsed on Beth as blood started pouring out of his leg.

Getting his chance, Carlton moved forward. He grabbed the gun from Fred's loose grip while placing his own gun's muzzle against Fred's temple. "Get off her right now before I blow your f*cking brains out!"

"Damn it, give me a minute!" Fred reached back a bit to grab his leg.

"NOW!" Carlton yelled.

Beth cried again as Fred got off her and fell off the bed. Keeping his gun trained on Fred, Carlton set aside Henry's gun before yelling, "O'HARA! GET IN HERE NOW!"

Beth started struggling against her restraints as Carlton reached down and smoothed her hair.

"It's okay, it's over now. Just calm down."

Beth stopped struggling and started crying in heart wrenching sobs. Carlton quickly took off his jacket and covered her as best he could before reaching down to untie her legs one handed. He rearranged the jacket as she curled into herself while trying to get closer to him. Making up his mind at the last minute, Carlton stepped away from her as Juliet came into the room, ignoring Beth's whimpers.

"O'Hara, I need you to free Beth as I take care of this scumbag." Carlton said as he kicked Fred's clothes closer to him.

"Oh my god," Juliet exclaimed before she quickly followed orders.

Keeping his gun trained on Fred's chest, Carlton growled. "Put them on now!"

"You shot me! You f*cking shot me!" Fred continued to whither on the floor.

"It's barely a scratch."

"Like hell it is!"

Clicking the safety off, Carlton barked, "Put the pants on now before I forcible put them on you!"

"Okay, damn it!" Fred slowly compiled, trying not to move his leg too much.

Hearing commotion in the hall, Carlton called out, "I need someone to arrest this bastard and escort him to the hospital!"

Holstering his gun as someone moved around him, Carlton turned around to find Beth huddled in the corner, clutching her knees while Juliet tried to block her from view with Carlton's jacket.

"All unnecessary personnel out of the room now and somebody bring me a blanket!" Carlton barked as he moved around the bed so Beth could see him.

Kneeling on the floor, he tried to make eye contact except that her eyes were closed. Licking his lips, Carlton said gently, "Beth? Can you open your eyes? I need to see your pretty green eyes."

Giving a sad laugh amongst all the sobs, Beth opened her eyes, and looked at him.

"Hey," Carlton smiled. "We're going to take you to the hospital, alright?"

Nodding silently, Beth reached forward and grabbed his hand. Squeezing back, Carlton brushed her hair back as he looked her over. She had multiple cuts and bruises all over her face and lines on her wrists from the handcuffs.

"Carlton." Juliet whispered from next to him.

Reaching for the offered blanket, he saw Fred being carried out of the room. Turning back to Beth, he smiled, "While we wait for the paramedics, we're going to cover you up, okay?"

Seeing Beth nod again, Carlton and Juliet proceeded to cover her. Hearing Henry in the hallway, Carlton looked at Juliet who sighed before going to head him off.

As Beth's sobs slowed down, Carlton squeezed her hand before asking, "Hey Beth, can you talk to me? Say whatever you want, as long as I hear your voice. You can even tell me to shut up if you want to."

Laughing, Beth sniffled before asking, "How's Henry?"

Looking towards the hallway, he could hear Henry arguing with Juliet. "Sounds like he's okay, but I'm going to make sure he gets checked out at the hospital, just in case."

"Good, because he scared me earlier when he was just lying there."

"Yeah, me too."

Seeing the paramedics pushing their way in, Carlton started to move.

"No, don't go!" Beth pleaded as she stared wide-eyed at him.

"I'm just making room for the paramedics." Carlton knelt back next to her.

"Don't leave me alone, please!" Beth pleaded.

"I won't. You just need to let them examine you."

"I don't want them too!"

"It's okay, they won't hurt you." Carlton rubbed her arm as a medic knelt next to him.

Smiling, she said, "Hi Beth. My name is Jenny and I'm just going to do a quick examination. Is that okay?"

When Beth looked at him, Carlton nodded. Beth nodded at Jenny before looking back at Carlton.

Smiling, Jenny said, "This shouldn't take too long, just making sure nothing needs any immediate attention, and then we'll be off to the hospital, okay?"

Getting another nod, Jenny donned gloves and shifted closer as Beth closed her eyes. She tightened her hold on Carlton's hand as the medic carefully removed the blanket. Beth whimpered a few times as she was gently stretched.

When she was done, Jenny shifted back into view. "Okay, you're ready to go. You can either get on the gurney now or the Detective here can carry you down to the ambulance. Which would you prefer?"

Beth squeezed Carlton's hand as she looked at him. Smiling slightly, Carlton replied, "I guess I'm carrying her."

"Thought so. We'll meet you down at the rig." Jenny patted his shoulder as she stood up and collected her things.

Once the room was empty, Carlton asked, "Are you ready?"

Closing her eyes, Beth replied, "No, but I don't think I'll ever be. It's like a walk of shame with everyone staring, knowing what happened."

"Hey, nobody blames you. It's not your fault, you've got to remember that."

"I know." Beth sighed as she uncurled, wincing as she stretched.

Glancing at the partially opened closet next to him, Carlton reached in and grabbed a shirt. "I don't think Henry would mind if you borrowed it."

Beth laughed shakily as she took the Hawaiian print shirt and tried to put it on. Seeing the trouble she was having with her sore muscles, Carlton knelt down next to her and helped.

Once the shirt was buttoned and the blanket was wrapped securely around her, Carlton looked her in the eye, "Okay, you don't have to do anything at all. Let me do all the work, got it?"

Beth smiled slightly as she said, "Being a big macho man again, eh?"

Carlton laughed as he brushed her hair back. "Yeah that's me, a chauvinistic pig."

"In more than one sense of the word," her smile grew slightly bigger.

Sighing, he moved closer and wrapped his arms around her before picking her up. "Whatever would I do without you?"

"Go back to your boring old self, being a mean, obnoxious pain in the ass dictator." Beth leaned her head into his shoulder as she clutched the blanket closer.

"True. But then there would be one less person to make Spencer squirm." Carlton made his way out into the hallway, which was thankfully devoid of people.

She laughed, "Yeah, that is fun. But I prefer making you squirm by saying something totally inappropriate."

"Please not now! I work with these people!" He moaned as they went down the stairs and he heard the voices in the kitchen.

Sighing, Beth snuggled closer, "Fine, but I reserve the right to say them later when we're alone."

"If it'll keep you quiet now, then fine."

She leaned closer and whispered in his ear, "Can I at least say that you look sexy when you're in full cop mode?"

Carlton blushed, even though no one else could have heard it. He got a few odd looks but he just glared back as he made his way through. Not getting another comment all the way to the ambulance, he assumed that she had fallen asleep.

Stepping into the rig, Carlton was about to place her on the gurney when she whispered sleepily, "You promised not to leave me."

Sighing, he put her down and took her hand as he brushed her hair. "I'm not leaving you alone. I don't break promises easily."

Squeezing his hand, Beth relaxed, almost to the point of sleep, as the paramedics got in, pulling off in minutes.


	14. Chapter 14

_**CHAPTER 14**_

When they got to the hospital, Beth freaked out and would not let Carlton leave her sight. She stared at him as they transferred her to the examination table and put a gown on her. After explaining the situation as nicely as he could, Carlton was finally allowed back next to bed. She held his hand tightly as they preformed a rape exam and checked her other injuries, including getting another x-ray of her wrist. When they were finally left alone, Beth broke down again and Carlton gently held her as she let it out.

He had made a quick call in the ambulance to the chief, explaining why he wouldn't be back to the station anytime soon that day. She understood and asked to be kept informed. There was a bit of a hiccup because he fired his weapon while on desk duty, but she said that it should be smoothed over quickly.

Once Beth was finally asleep, Carlton relaxed in his chair as he rubbed his face. This past week and a half had been crazy. As if the whole Yin fiasco and finding out about Juliet and Shawn wasn't enough, he met this interesting young lady who seemed to have turned his whole life upside down in a matter of days. He never would have sat for hours through an examination and then in the hospital room with anyone, let alone someone he barely knew.

Hearing the door creak open, Carlton looked up to find Henry coming in, a bandage on his head, and his son following. Glancing at the sleeping figure, they quietly made their way over, Henry taking the seat next to Carlton.

"How is she?" Henry asked as he passed over Beth's purse.

"Shook up. She was worried about you when she saw you laying in the driveway. Even with everything else that was happening, she wanted to make sure you were alright."

Nodding, Henry smiled. "She's a good kid. I just wish I had noticed him sooner, I could have taken him out or warned her or something."

"It's not your fault, he's a complete psycho. Beth put up a pretty good fight, from what I could tell."

"Jules said that you shot him?" Shawn spoke up from his position against the wall.

"Yeah, he wouldn't get off her. Said that they weren't finished yet. He even pistol-whipped her when she cried to me for help."

Henry balled his fists and growled, "If I had my gun, I would have shot that son of a bitch in the head."

"Believe me, I was so close to doing that. But we have to follow protocol." Sighing, Carlton looked back at them. "Have you given your statement yet?"

Henry nodded, "Yeah, O'Hara took it a half hour ago. She said that she'll try to visit later after work." Groaning, he rubbed his forehead. "My house is a crime a scene, I probably won't be able to get back in until tomorrow. Even then, it'll still be a couple days until it's cleaned up. I guess I'm staying with you kid."

"What!" Shawn whispered as he moved into his father's line of sight. "Why me? Why not Lassie?"

"I already have a house guest." Carlton turned back to Beth who whimpered in her sleep.

"Can't you stay in a hotel or something?" Shawn whined.

"Shawn, I already have a headache, don't make it worse! Besides, I'm not suppose to be alone for the next couple days."

"So not fair!"

"You're such a cry-baby, Shawn," Beth whispered as she opened her eyes.

"You're telling me that you wouldn't complain if one of your parents had to stay with you for a couple days in your bachelor pad?"

Beth laughed, "Of course I would, but I would grin and bear it. Besides, unlike you, I've got 4 other siblings that I would try to bargain with before agreeing."

"Lucky," Shawn muttered as he leaned against the wall again.

Beth smiled as she turned over and raised the bed, letting go of Carlton in the process. Once she was settled, she looked at Henry, "How are you doing Henry?"

"I'm fine, just a mild concussion and a few stitches, nothing to worry about. Thank you for asking."

"I had to have something to distract myself with, Carlton's not very talkative." Beth smiled as Carton squirmed.

"I'm sorry, it was very awkward in the room with that many nurses and doctors and me being the only guy."

"Oh, come on Lassie! That's every guy's dream." Shawn practically bounced over to see Carlton glowering. "Seeing you as the strong, fearless knight with all those dangers laying around."

"Just because you're afraid of sharp objects kid, doesn't mean that everyone else is."

Beth laughed as Shawn groaned, "Dad! A little discretion! Besides, it's not a fear of sharp objects, it's just a distaste of pointy things. Get it right!"

"Well, I have a 'distaste' for being alone outside in poorly lit areas." Beth chimed in as she pulled her knees up to her chest.

"So you're afraid of the dark?" Carlton asked as he leaned back

"No, I love sitting in the dark on my deck. I just get nervous when I'm in the woods or someplace unfamiliar where something can jump out from behind the trees."

"So you're afraid of the unknown, that's natural." Henry shrugged his shoulders.

Beth smiled. "Yeah." After a brief silence, she turned to Carlton. "So what is our head detective afraid of?"

Sparing a glance at Shawn, Carlton replied, "Nothing."

"Nothing?" Beth asked skeptically.

"Oh, come on Lassie! It's truth telling time. You and I both know that you're lying!" Shawn practically bounced onto the bed and sat crossed leg in front of Beth. She flinched when he took her hand, but otherwise leaned in.

"Spencer!" Carlton growled.

"Carly-town here is afraid of," Shawn leaned in and stage whispered, "Snow globes!"

"Seriously?" Beth started laughing as Carlton seemed to shrink in his chair.

"Yep, they give him nightmares about being trapped in a clear ball with snow that burns his skin off!" Shawn started laughing as well

"Spencer! I think that it's time for you to leave!" Carlton growled as he crossed his arms.

"Aw, but Lassie! We're having so much fun!"

"Shawn, let's go. I haven't had lunch yet and this conversation is starting to worsen my headache." Henry stood up slowly, rubbing his forehead.

"Fine!" Shawn pouted. Lifting Beth's hand, he kissed the back of it. "Good Day, Miss Elizabeth. I will try to come see you tomorrow so we can continue our lovely torment of Carlton."

Laughing, Beth replied, "Good bye, Shawn."

Hopping off the bed, Shawn bounced to the door. "BYE LASSIE!"

Shaking his head, Henry followed. "See you later Beth, Carlton."

"Bye, Henry." "Good day sir."

Once the door closed behind them, Beth seemed to deflate, clutching her knees and laying her head on top. Carlton looked away for a minute until she spoke up.

"So what now?"

"The doctor wants you to talk to a psychologist."

Groaning, she looked towards him. "Do I have to? I hate hospitals. And while I respect all doctors and psychologists, I'm just not comfortable talking to them."

Carlton shook his head. "You were kind of freaked out earlier, understandably so. I mean, it's not something you just brush under the rug." Sighing, he tried again. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Please, I don't have good memories of hospitals. Can we just go?" Beth looked about half her age as she bit her lip.

Nodding, he stood up. "I'll go get the doctor."

* * *

><p>They only had to wait about 5 minutes until Doctor Marie Theobald came in. Smiling, she sat in the chair next to Carlton. "So Beth, Carlton tells me that you are ready to go?"<p>

Beth nodded as she started to play with the edge of the blanket.

"Okay. Can you explain to me why you are declining a psych consult?"

Beth sighed as she glanced at Carlton before answering. "I'm just not in the mood to talk about it right now. I know how my thought process works and talking about it with a complete stranger isn't going to help. We'll just spend the first half hour staring at each other or asking non-relevant questions until one of us caves. I don't want to go through that again."

Marie nodded as she wrote something down. "Okay. Legally, we can't keep you, so I'm going to get your release papers ready. Most of your injuries are superficial and will go away over time. I am going to write up a script for prescription strength aspirin for your wrist. You just need to take it easy for a few days, okay?"

"Yeah," Beth whispered as she started to play with her hair.

Marie turned to Carlton and said, "Do you have any questions?"

"No."

"Okay. Does she have a change of clothes here?"

"No, I didn't even think about that." Carlton blushed as Beth smirked.

Marie patted his shoulder as she stood up. "That's alright, I bet that we can find some scrubs for her. I'll have a nurse come by soon with your papers. Good day."

"Thanks doctor," Carlton replied as he watched her leave.

Beth sighed once the door was closed. "You might as well ask."

Carlton frowned, "About what?"

"Why I won't see a shrink."

"I thought we already went over this."

She shook her head as she curled into herself more. "Not really. Remember when I told you that my grandmother died a few months before I graduated from high school?"

"Vaguely, I was drunk at the time."

"Well, there's more to it than that." Beth sighed as she picked her cross necklace up off the end table. "It was a car accident, a pretty bad one, and I was with her at the time. We were coming back from Easter dinner at a relatives' house and I volunteered to ride with my grandma since it was an hour drive and she didn't like driving at night. We were discussing what I should do at college in the fall, since I was planning on going to a local college but hadn't decided on a major yet. A deer darted in front of the car, and when my grandma swerved to avoid it, the steering wheel locked up and we landed in a ravine." She took a shuddering deep breath and choked out, "She d-died on impact while all I got was a broken ankle. It, it took almost an hour for someone to notice us and then another half hour before they could get me out. I spent the whole time staring into my grandma's dead eyes, un, unable to look away."

She broke down completely and Carlton got up and sat next to her on the bed, rubbing her back. She flinched at the contact but otherwise didn't move away from it. After a few minutes, she calmed down enough to look at him. "I had to endure 5 psychiatric sessions before they declared that I was 'alright.' I refused to cry during the sessions but would cry myself to sleep once I got home. I think that they did more harm than good for me."

Carlton pulled her close and gave her a hug. "I'm sorry."

"Me too," Beth whispered as she continued to stare at her necklace.


	15. Chapter 15

_**CHAPTER 15**_

When they arrived at Carlton's house an hour later, Beth collapsed on the couch. Sitting next to her, Carlton took off his shoes and tie. They sat in silence for a few minutes until Beth spoke up.

"I'm hungry."

Noticing that she wasn't making a move to get up, Carlton asked, "Anything in particular that you want?"

"I don't know, I'm thinking." She fiddled with the scrubs that the hospital gave her before saying, "I feel like pizza and ice cream."

"Okay." Pulling the phone book towards him, he started flipping towards the food section. "What do you want?"

"Something with a lot of toppings. There can be pork on it for all I care." Standing up, she stretched. "I'm going to take a shower."

"Alright, I'll take care of it."

"Thanks." Beth smiled sadly before making her way down the hall.

Half-listening to Beth shuffling around, Carlton called in an order.

* * *

><p>Beth came back into the living room as the doorbell rang. She was wearing jeans and a long sleeved shirt. After taking care of the pizza guy, Carlton came back to an empty room. Hearing noises in the kitchen, he placed the pizza on the coffee table and went to investigate. Beth was opening and shutting cupboards, moving things around.<p>

Leaning in the doorway, he asked, "Looking for something?"

"Yeah, don't you have like a thermos or an insulated lunch box or something."

"On top of the fridge, why?"

Walking over to the fridge, Beth avoided looking at him. "I want to go to the beach and eat, but we'll need something to keep the ice cream cold."

Shaking his head, Carlton started collecting drinks. "What about the pizza? Don't you want to keep that warm?"

"Nah, cold pizza is fine." Pulling a carton of ice cream out of the freezer, she put it, a couple spoons and napkins in the lunch tote.

"Okay, next question. Which beach do you want to visit?"

Going into the living room, Beth shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, one where we can watch the sun set."

"Sunset is still a few hours away."

"So? Do you really have anything else planned for today?" Beth smiled as she put her sandals on.

"No." Sighing, he headed to the hall closet. "I guess I should bring a couple blankets and a radio."

"That's the spirit!" Beth laughed as she grabbed her coat and some of their supplies.

* * *

><p>Their meal was a quiet affair with just the radio softly playing. Beth was mostly looking out into the ocean while Carlton just observed her, waiting to see if she wanted to talk or anything.<p>

"Can I ask you something?" Beth asked after about an hour of silence.

"Sure."

"Have you ever thought about suicide?"

Carlton stared at her for a few seconds before answering, "No. Suicide should never be the answer."

"Why not?" Beth finally looked at him. She looked defeated and there were tears slowly falling down her cheeks.

Taking both her hands, he ignored her flinch as he looked her straight in the eyes. "Because that hurts everyone around you. You might be setting yourself free, but what about those left behind to pick up the pieces? They start questioning everything, what went wrong, what were the signs, what could have been done differently. Some people never recover from that sort of guilt."

Nodding, Beth closed her eyes and started crying again. Carlton pulled her into a hug as she broke down even more. "You can get through this, I know you can! You're a strong, vibrant young women. I'm here for you and so are the Spencers. We might not have known you long, but you have definitely made an impression. Besides, you don't want me to go back to being a mean dictator, as you put it, do you?"

"You forgot obnoxious pain in the ass." Beth laughed shakily before she shook her head into his shoulder. "No, we wouldn't want that."

"Besides, I need you to help make Spencer uncomfortable."

"Even if it backfires on you?"

Groaning, Carlton said, "I guess."

Beth laughed again as she tried to catch her breath.

After a few minutes, Beth finally pulled back. Wiping her cheeks, she said, "Ug, good thing I don't wear a lot of make-up." Looking towards the ocean, Beth took off her shoes. When she started pulling off her shirt, Carlton put a hand on her arm to stop her.

"Whoa, what are you doing? This is a public beach!"

Sighing, Beth shook his arm off. "I'm not going skinny dipping, I'm just taking off my heavy shirt." Pulling it off, she revealed the tank top she had on underneath. "Seriously, Carly, you need to chillax!"

"How was I suppose to know that you would stop, there are kids on this beach! And don't call me Carly!"

"Whatever!" Beth made sure that her pockets were empty before running towards the water and diving on.

Carlton watched amused as she came up for air and shivered slightly before going back under. After about 5 minutes of swimming back and forth, she finally leaned back and just drifted while the waves pushed her back and forth. Taking off his shoes and rolling up his pant legs, Carlton grabbed her camera and made his way over to her. He took her picture from a spot where the water was barely lapping past his ankles. He smiled at the peaceful expression on her face.

* * *

><p>When Beth finally came back to their stuff after almost a half hour in the water, she was shivering so bad. Laughing, Carlton held up the extra blanket while she stood between and stripped. He looked over her head, making sure that no one came too close.<p>

A kiss to the cheek made him look down. Beth was wearing her long sleeved shirt and jacket but no pants. Looking back at her face, Carlton blushed, causing her to laugh. Letting her take the blanket, Carlton took a seat. After rearranging the blanket into more or less a skirt, Beth sat down next to him and asked, "Have I thanked you yet?"

"For today? No, but it's not needed. I did what I had to do. I only wish that I had gotten there sooner."

Nodding, Beth scooted closer, putting her head on his shoulder. "Is it weird that I feel safer with you than my own father?"

"It depends, are you thinking of our relationship more as father-daughter?"

Laughing, Beth said, "No, not at all. You're nothing like my father, thank goodness. Although, I think he has a better sense of humor than you."

"Wow, thanks." Carlton wrapped his arm around her waist.

"But I'm serious, I do feel safe with you. Like a big brother. You're only a couple years older than Meg, so it's not that weird."

"I'm glad that I can make you feel safe somewhere."

They lapsed into silence again as the radio played some rock song.

"How do you do it?" Beth asked quietly.

Carlton looked down at her quizzically. "Do what?"

She sighed as she turned around to face him. "Your job. Seeing so much violence and hatred. How do you sleep at night?"

Carlton looked down at the sand for a few seconds before answering. "Habit I guess. I've gotten use to it over the years, found ways of coping. Sometimes I drink or go to the gun range. But then I meet people like you, the ones who survive because we got there in time. Whether it's getting the bad guy before they can finish the job or even start it, it's in the knowledge that I did make a difference, that someone's life is a little better because I was there to do my job."

Carlton finally looked up to see that she was crying but also smiling. She leaned forward and wrapped him in another hug, whispering, "Thank you for being there, for doing your job, for being a great cop. I really appreciate it."

He wrapped his arms around her and muttered, "You are welcome."

Once Beth pulled away, she wiped her face before laying down. Following her lead, Carlton bunched his jacket under his head. Closing his eyes, he listened to the waves, the radio and Beth's breathing. She moved closer so that her head was on his shoulder and an arm was across his chest. They were quiet for the next half hour as the sun slowly set.

* * *

><p>When they got back to the house, Beth barely paused to take off her shoes and coat as she went straight for his entertainment center. "Do you have any good movies?"<p>

"Define good." Carlton said as he placed the blankets to the side to be washed.

"I don't know. I'm thinking something suspenseful. Hitchcock, Stephen King, I'll even go for one of the Hannibal movies."

Carlton paused on his way to kitchen. "You're into horror movies?"

Sitting back on her heels, she smiled at him. "Yes and No. I'm not into Saw, Final Destination or those other gory movies where they kill off everyone because they can. I like the ones where you aren't entirely sure who the real culprit is and are just as surprised as the characters when someone is attacked. Hitchcock and Stephen King are my favorite um, categories you can say."

"Well, I think I have a few Hitchcock but I'd rather not. There was a case a year ago where the sicko used Hitchcock movies as he baited us. As for Stephen King, we'd have to go rent them." He finally made it into the kitchen to put the slightly melted ice cream away.

Sighing, Beth nodded as she got up. "Very well. Let's go."

"What? Now?"

"Of course." Beth threw on her shoes. "I'm thinking we should get IT and the Langoliers, possibly Storm of the Century. Although, now that I think about it, I believe they're all miniseries, not movies. Oh well, just means that we have more time to enjoy them."

Checking his pockets, Carlton opened the door for her. "What if I said that I've never seen any of them?"

Gasping, Beth stopped and spun around quickly, almost making Carlton trip over her. "Seriously? You've got to be kidding me!"

"When did they come out?" Carlton said as he steered her to the car.

"I don't know. I think all in the 90s. I remember catching the Langoliers and Storm of the Century while I was in school but I was too young for IT. Jo was scared of storm drains for weeks after that and I thought that it was so funny how she was reacting."

Nodding, Carlton waited until they were both inside the car before saying. "Yeah, well I was in college when IT came out so I was studying those nights, but my roommate never missed. I was too busy working my way up the ladder to watch the other two and I know Victoria never would have watched anything Stephen King."

"Please tell me that you've at least seen Carrie, Christine, The Dead Zone and Green Mile?" she asked seriously as they pulled out.

Laughing, he shook his head, "Yes to the first three but I've only seen bits and pieces of the Green Mile. Admittedly, I was never a fan of the Dead Zone."

Beth smiled as she patted his arm. "I'm really not surprised."

"Come on! Do you really believe in psychics?"

"Yes and no." She laughed at his groan. "I don't believe that you can divine the future, because it's always changing, but seeing the past seems plausible. Shawn managed to figure out a lot about me."

"Yeah, well he was just lucky. He's a con man and I'm going to figure out how he does it!"

"Do you really have to? It's not like he's hurting anybody if he is lying about being a psychic. He's catching the bad guys, making the world a better place."

"He's still breaking the law and making a mockery of police work!" Carlton said as they stopped at a light. "Wouldn't it be hypocritical for the police to be hiring an uncharged criminal to catch other criminals?"

Sighing, Beth unbuckled her seatbelt causing Carlton to whip his head over. "What are you doing? The light's about to change."

Turning her whole body towards him, she said, "I'm going to give you a blow job to get you to relax."

"What?" he exclaimed as his hand slipped and hit the horn.

Laughing, Beth crawled into the back seat. "I'm kidding, Jeez." She sat directly behind him and buckled up "But you really do need to lighten up so I was going to give you a shoulder massage." As she placed her hands on his shoulders, he tensed up. "Carlton, it doesn't work like that. You need to relax."

"I do not!" He tried to bat her hands away but a few cars honking made him put his hands on the wheel since the light had changed.

"You do too! Now come on or maybe I will give you that blowjob."

Seeing her stubborn look in the rear view mirror, Carlton relaxed his shoulders and tried not flinch as Beth started giving him a massage.

After a few minutes, she asked, "Now how do you feel?"

"Better," He almost whimpered as she removed her hands. He was having the hardest time concentrating on the road.

"Good." She climbed back into the front seat as they pulled into a parking spot. "Maybe later I'll give you a full body massage because you definitely have a lot of kinks to work out. A great excuse to see you naked."

Carlton blushed as he turned off the car. "I'll take off my shirt but that's it, nothing below the waist."

"Not even your socks?"

"Smartass." He was very tempted to wipe that smirk off her face but was too happy to see it.


	16. Chapter 16

_**CHAPTER 16**_

Carlton's phone woke him up the next morning. Without opening his eyes, he grabbed the offending object out of his pocket.

"Lassiter."

"Hey Lassie! How's it going?"

Carlton groaned at the loud, hyper voice, "Spencer, it is too earlier for your crap."

"Early? Lassie, it's almost noon. Were you sleeping?"

He finally opened his eyes and noticed that he was on the couch. Beth was asleep on the other end and the television was quietly playing. Groaning, he sat up and rubbed his face. "What do you want?"

"What? I'm not allowed to check in with one of my favorite detectives? How rude!"

"Spencer! As you clearly pointed out, I just woke up and am not in the mood for your juvenile behavior. So would you please tell me what you want or I'm hanging up."

There was silence until Shawn sighed. "Fine! I was wondering if we could switch houseguests? My dad is driving me up the wall! He's actually at the store right now buying cleaning supplies and he's going to make me clean! I'm going to be smelling bleach for a week. You've got to help me Lassie!"

Carlton chuckled as he slowly stood up and headed for the kitchen. "Sorry, he's your problem. But I have work tomorrow, so maybe Henry and Beth can hang out and that can get him out of your hair for a bit."

"Lass-ie! (Shawn! Where are you?) Dammit, he's back. Please Lassie! Pretty please with tons of pineapple and sprinkles on top!"

"Nope. Bye Spencer." Carlton quickly hung up as he started the coffee maker.

He was just enjoying his first cup when Beth stumbled in with a "Why does coffee always have to stink up the place?"

Carlton laughed as he went to the fridge and got out the orange juice for her. "I don't know, just lucky I guess."

She groaned as she took out a glass. "I was never able to spend more than 10 minutes in a coffee shop. Jo worked at a McDonalds for a couple years and she would come home after the morning shift smelling like coffee and pork. I was so glad that I shared a room Amy instead of Jo."

Shaking his head, Carlton asked, "So, what do you want for breakfast? Or lunch since it's noon."

"I don't know. How about pancakes?"

"Homemade or restaurant."

Beth looked down at her clothes and fingered her hair. "I want to say restaurant but I have to take a shower first, get rid of this saltwater."

"Okay, then I guess I'll make pancakes while you shower." He moved back to the fridge to grab the eggs.

"Thanks," She smiled as she left the kitchen.

* * *

><p>A half hour later, Carlton was getting worried. The pancakes were done and getting cold but the shower was still running. Taking a deep breath, he made his way to the bathroom.<p>

Knocking softly, he called, "Beth, breakfast is done." When he got no response, he tried again, "Beth? Are you alright?"

A choked sob met him at that and he slowly opened the door. Beth was huddled between the tub and the hamper crying. Making his way in, Carlton was a bit cautious since Beth was completely naked. Squatting in front of her, he brushed back her hair.

"Hey, are you okay?"

She laughed sadly as she clutched her knees closer to her chest. "No."

"What happened?"

"I um, I was getting ready to step into the shower when I caught sight of some of my bruises and I freaked out. God, I'm so stupid!"

"No, no you're not." He rubbed her arm which was shaking slightly. "You've just been through something very traumatic and you're still a bit spooked, it's nothing to be ashamed of."

Beth laughed as she looked at him finally. "Nothing to be ashamed of? I'm sitting naked in a bathroom with a guy that I barely know who is trying to comfort me. This being the second time that he's seen me naked."

"Okay, so it's a bit weird but I've seen worse."

She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Are you saying that I look bad?"

"No, you're very pretty. What I, I um meant was that I've been in more un-uncomfortable situations." Carlton stuttered as she continued to look at him. "There was this one case, a couple of years ago, where these guys were drugged and abandoned in a field completely naked, suppose to look like an alien abduction. Anyways, one of the guys refused to put any clothes on, not even a towel. And he was big, probably around 3-400 lbs. He was in the interrogation room with Spencer and Guster while I watched on the other side of the mirror. He got very agitated, leapt out of his chair and came right at the mirror. Let me tell you, nobody should have seen that. I almost burned my eyes with bleach."

Beth laughed as she wiped her cheeks. "Okay, I guess you win."

"I didn't know it was a competition." He smiled as Beth ducked her head. "Now, are you going to take a shower or continue to sit on the floor, making me uncomfortable."

"But making you uncomfortable is so much fun! Maybe you wouldn't feel so bad if you were naked too." She said with a straight face.

Shaking his head, Carlton stood up, "Okay, I'm out of here." Ignoring her laughter, he went to the door. "I'll be in the kitchen once you're acting more mature."

"But being mature is no fun!" She called as he closed the door.

* * *

><p>A few hours later, they were sitting on the couch, watching Doctor Who. Carlton had seen a few episodes when he was younger but never really got into it. Beth had started watching when they revived it a few years ago, so they were watching a marathon on one of the channels he rarely watched. He was definitely impressed with the special effects.<p>

"Do you want another massage?" Beth asked quietly during a commercial break.

"What?" Carlton asked as looked at her.

She just shrugged as she looked him over. "You still look very tense."

"I'm fine, just thinking. Besides, after last night, I don't think I want another one for a while."

"Why not? I thought that you liked it."

"It was fine, very good. The problem was that you got me so relaxed and then proceeded to lay on my back for the next half hour."

"You could have asked me to get off," she smirked.

"I did, numerous times. And you trapped my arms so I couldn't throw you off." He glared at her smile.

"Maybe you need to work out more?"

"Really? Because I think I'm in great shape. Especially after beating you in that pillow fight."

"You cheated! You tickled me. Tickling is so not in the rulebook."

"Rulebook? There's a rulebook?"

"Yeah, there's one for everything nowadays. It says no shoes, no couch cushions and no tickling allowed."

"You made that up."

"Possibly. But what are you going to do about it?"

"Well," Carlton smirked as he leaned closer to whisper in her ear. "How about I, maybe, tickle you!" He lunged forward and started tickling before she could escape.

"No!" Beth squealed as she tried to push his hands off. Unfortunately her hand slipped and she accidentally elbowed him in the nose. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?"

Letting her go, he clutched his nose as he took deep breaths. "Just give me a sec."

"Oh no, you're bleeding." She quickly reached across the table and grabbed a few napkins. "You're suppose to lean forward, not back." Correcting his position, Carlton put some of the napkins around his nose.

After a few quiet minutes of just Carlton occasionally sniffling and the television still playing, he finally sat back up and tossed the napkins to the side. "I'm okay, it was just a nosebleed."

"Amy gets them every so often for no apparent reason. Although they tend to happen if she's been crying for long periods of time, which is very rare."

"Yeah, well just don't hit me in the nose again and we should be fine."

Beth laughed slightly as she stared at her hands. Carlton was about to reassure her again when she asked, "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, sure."

"And it's important, I don't want you to agree just because you feel like you should or anything." Beth sat up and started fidgeting.

Gently taking her hands, he looked into her eyes. "I'll be honest, I promise. Now what is it?"

She took a few deep breaths before looking him in the eyes. "Can I stay with you?"

Looking at her confusedly, Carlton said, "I thought you already were?"

"Yeah, I know. But." Sighing, Beth closed her eyes. "Why is this so hard?"

"Just take your time."

Opening her eyes, Beth bit her lip before trying again. "I mean for a bit more long term. I think I want to stay in Santa Barbara."

"What?" Carlton was truly stunned.

"I mean, once I get a steady job, I can find my own place, but it'll probably take several months. I'll have to sell my house in Ohio, although I'd hate to kick Crissy out. And then I'll probably have to drive back with my pets because the one is afraid of carriers. In which case I'll rent a U-Haul so I can bring my bike with me, although I'm not even sure how to transport a motorcycle. I'll probably have to have a going away party because Susie will want to plan one. And of course Amy would want to help, and. . . ."

Carlton cut her off by covering her mouth with his hand. After a couple seconds to think, he said, "So let me this straight. You want to move to Santa Barbara?" Beth nodded with her mouth was still covered. "And you actually want to stay with me for however long it'll take to get you settled and moved?"

Smiling nervously, she took his hand away. "Yeah. Like I said, you make me feel safe."

Carlton shook his head, "You're good for me too, most of the time."

"So I can stay?"

"Yeah."

Beth squealed excitedly before hugging him tightly and knocking them both backwards. Laughing, Carlton hugged her back. "I swear, you are going to be the death of me."

"I know." Beth let go enough to lay comfortably next to him with her head on his chest. Putting one hand behind his head, Carlton started petting her hair as they watched the Doctor confront the alien threat.


	17. Chapter 17

_**CHAPTER 17**_

Making their way into the station early Saturday morning, Beth was still so excited about the decisions made the day before. She spent most of the night on the phone with Susie, who agreed to help start the cleaning process in Ohio. While she was glad that Beth had found someplace that made her happy, Susie was a bit disappointed that she was moving away. After making Beth agree to come back in March with Carlton, because of course she had to meet Beth's new friend, Susie started the party planning. Carlton was pretty sure that he could get 2 weeks off since he had over 300 vacation days acquired, as long as no major cases come up.

Even though Fred was in police custody, Beth was still a bit nervous about being alone. Since Juliet still needed to take her statement and Carlton was on desk duty, Beth had came in to the station with him. She was going to keep Henry company while Shawn worked on his new case.

Sitting at Henry's desk, Beth stared out across the bullpen while Carlton looked through the new files on his desk. "You know," she started, a grin slowly appearing on her face. "I never did tell you all those inappropriate things that I was thinking Thursday."

Carlton dropped a folder that he was about to put in a drawer and ended up spilling the papers all over the floor. Blushing, he looked around, noting that there were only two other people around at 8 o'clock in the morning. Clearing his throat, he bent down to pick up the papers. "And I agreed that you could tell me them when we were alone!" He hissed.

Smiling, Beth leaned forward. "But we are alone."

"Not really."

Sighing, she collapsed back into the chair. "You're no fun. What if we go to the gun range? We'll be alone there."

"I'm not taking you down there when you have no experience with guns, especially with a brace on your hand."

"Come on Carly! How am I suppose to learn if you won't teach me?" Beth whined as she swayed back and forth in the chair.

Growling at the nickname, Carlton returned to his work. "Maybe if you show me that you're more mature than Spencer, than I'll think about it."

"Fine! We'll try again next week." Beth took out her camera and started taking pictures.

As she got out of the chair, Carlton growled, "You better stay on this floor! You're not suppose to go anywhere unescorted."

"Yes, mother." she sang out as she walked past the chief's office.

* * *

><p>After spending 5 minutes scoping out the whole floor, Beth was trying to decide how much trouble she'd get in for going downstairs when the front doors opened. Fred walked, or rather limped, in and was escorted by 2 rather tall police officers. As the procession stopped at the front desk, Fred made eye contact with her and smiled evilly.<p>

Unable to move, Beth watched wide-eyed as Fred got away from his escort and came right at her. He managed to kiss her and grind into her before several officers pulled him off. Not sure what else to do, she took off when one of the officers asked if she was alright.

Unfamiliar with the building, Beth ran through corridors and staircases until she came across what looked like a seldom used restroom. Locking the door behind her, she went into the last stall and collapsed against the wall. Ignoring her cell phone ringing, she cried for over an hour.

* * *

><p>She was on the verge of sleep when there was a knock on the outside door. Still not ready to face anyone yet, Beth curled into herself tighter, quietly waiting for whoever to leave. There was another knock and, when that wasn't answered, a key unlocking the door. Holding her breath, she watched as a pair of men's shoes slowly made their way towards her, stopping right outside her stall.<p>

The person knocked lightly on the door while calling out, "Beth?"

Beth sighed in relief when she recognized Carlton's voice. "Yeah?" she replied hesitantly.

"Are you alright?" He asked softly.

Sniffling, she shook her head and choked out, "No."

"Can I come in?"

Laughing slightly, she replied, "There's not enough room."

"Okay, then can you come out?"

"I'd rather not."

He sighed before sitting down on the floor next to the stall. "I'm sorry about what happened. I've already spent a good 10 minutes yelling at the officers before I came looking for you. This assault is going to be added to his charges."

Sniffling, she wiped her cheeks. "It's partially my fault. If I wasn't standing there, deciding whether or not I could sneak downstairs, I might never have seen him."

"I'll be sure to add 'victim was not following rules' in my report."

Laughing, Beth leaned her head against the wall. "When is he being charged?"

"He has his arraignment Monday morning. There's plenty of evidence against him, and he should be sentenced quickly. You won't have to testify."

"Good."

"O'Hara arrived a half hour ago. She'll take your statement about yesterday and today whenever you are ready."

"Okay." They sat silently for a few minutes before Beth asked, "Can you get me some water? All this crying is making me thirsty."

"Sure. I'll be right back."

Beth listened as Carlton left the bathroom but heard him bark at someone else to go get him a bottle of water. Smiling slightly, she grabbed some toilet paper and started wiping her face.

Hearing Carlton coming back in, she stood up and exited the stall. Meeting him by the sinks, she gave him a hug which he slowly returned. Pulling back, she went to wash her face.

Looking into the mirror, Beth watched Carlton, who was standing there awkwardly and fiddling with the bottle of water. "Thanks. I just don't know what I would do about Fred if I didn't have anyone to turn to."

Nodding, Carlton mumbled. "I'm glad I can help."

Drying her face and hands, she turned around and crossed her arms. "I guess I've postponed this long enough."

"I can give you a few more minutes by yourself, if you want."

Shaking her head, Beth took the water from him. "It won't help."

"Okay." Carlton went to the door and waited until she drank some water before opening it. Beth walked close to him on their way back to his desk, Carlton glaring at those who dared to glance at them. He pulled Henry's chair over while they waited for Juliet to return.

While Carlton sorted through the files, Beth asked, "What time is Henry coming in?"

"I don't know. He has to stop by his house and get his truck, which means Spencer needs to be awake. Probably around 10."

Nodding, she pulled up her camera and started looking through her pictures. "I'm gonna have to get a few photo albums and frames."

"I can help you look on my next day off." Carlton said as he signed his name and put the folder in his done pile.

"Thanks, that'll be fun." Beth smiled as they lapsed into silence again.

Carrying a few files, Juliet stomped across the bullpen in a huff. She slammed the files down on her desk before grabbing her mug and heading to the coffee pots. Glancing in Beth's direction, Carlton made his way over to Juliet.

"What happened?" Carlton asked quietly.

"That, that bastard is a real piece of work!" Juliet hissed as she tried to keep her voice down. "He doesn't think that he did anything wrong, that she had it coming! And then he had the nerve to try and come on to me! I was so close to hitting him that I just left while he was still ranting on and on about what he wanted to do with her. He has a real shot at that insanity plead but I so hope he doesn't get it. If anyone deserves to be abused in prison, he so does."

Juliet stomped her way to her desk and slammed some of her papers around. Following her, Carlton said, "Beth is still a bit shook up. She spent over an hour in the old 3rd floor restroom crying. She said that she's ready to give her statements whenever you're ready."

Nodding, Juliet glanced over at Beth who was looking through her pictures. Taking a deep breath, she replied, "Give me a few minutes and then I'll take her statement in the conference room."

"Okay." Carlton walked over to Beth who took his picture. "Don't you have enough photos of me?"

Smiling, Beth shook her head. "Nope. You can never have too many pictures."

"Whatever," Carlton grumbled as he sat down again. "O'Hara will be ready in a few minutes."

Nodding, Beth started fidgeting with her camera. Reaching over, Carlton covered her hands. "You'll be fine. All you have to do is tell your side of the story and then come back later to sign it, no big deal."

Smiling, Beth deep breath. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Turning back to his work, he half listened as Beth took out her phone and started sending a text.

After a few minutes, he heard Juliet get up from her desk and walk over to them. "Hey Beth. If you'll just follow me, I can take your statement and then you can get out of here."

Nodding, Beth got up and slowly followed Juliet, who was smiling and making small talk.

* * *

><p>After about an hour, Carlton was getting worried. He was just about to go check on them when Juliet finally came out of the conference room alone. Catching his eye, Juliet made her way over.<p>

"How is she?" Carlton asked quietly as she joined him.

Smiling slightly at his poorly concealed concern, Juliet leaned against his desk. "She's a mess right now. I told her that I'll give her a few minutes before I send you in. She was able to get through her whole story without crying, but once she finished, it was like someone pulled a switch. I couldn't get another word out of her and she flinched when I touched her."

"Okay, thanks. Henry's here. He's been going through his desk, making sure there isn't anything that was left there by mistake. Then he'll hang out with her today."

"Good, I'm glad she won't be alone. Has she called her family yet?"

He leaned back in his chair and sighed. "I don't think so. She called her best friend yesterday but I don't think the events of the last week came up." Chuckling slightly, he smiled. "Did you know that yesterday she asked if she could stay with me?"

"Really? As in long term?" She looked eager to hear more.

"Yeah, she wants to stay here in Santa Barbara. She said that I make her feel safe." Carlton almost whispered that last part, but Juliet's smile told him that she heard anyways.

"Aw, that's so great! Once she's settled, we should throw her a welcoming party!"

Laughing, he shook his head. "Her best friend is already throwing her a going away party in March and I'm suppose to go with her."

"That's nice."

"Yeah, apparently she's going to drive all the way to Ohio so she can drive her pets back. I told her that I'd rather fly out there but I might drive back with her."

Juliet smiled, "You know, I'm liking Beth more and more. I'm so glad that you guys have found each other!"

"Yeah, I guess I have you and Spencer to thank for that."

"What?"

Looking surprised that he had said that out loud, Carlton got up and headed to the conference room. "You know what, I should go check on Beth, she probably shouldn't be left alone."

"Yeah, sure go ahead. But don't think that that lets you off the hook."

Cursing himself for the little slip up, Carlton knocked on the door before slowly opening it. "Hey Beth?"

Sniffling, Beth lifted her head from the table. "Yeah?"

Closing the door behind him, he took a seat next to her. "Are you alright?"

Nodding, she wiped her face. "Yeah, but if I keep crying like this, I'll probably shrivel up from all the moisture I keep losing."

Laughing, he patted her shoulder. "Then I guess we need to get you happy again. Henry's here and you guys can go whenever you want."

"Okay. Are we still having dinner tonight?"

"Yeah, I get off around 5 and I'll call you so I can pick you up."

"Actually, I have a better idea."

Looking at her smile, Carlton skeptically asked, "Really? And what would that be?"

"I'm going to cook. I bought all those groceries and we've barely had any meals at your house. Give me your key." Beth held out her hand.

"I don't know. I've never given anyone my key before except O'Hara, and it's for emergencies only."

Beth sighed as she leaned back. "Come on! I'm going to be living with you for a few months and I'll need a key eventually! I'll even make a copy."

Shaking his head, Carlton took out his keys and started flipping through them. "Fine! But Spencer better not end up with one! I do not need him in my house, especially when I'm not around."

"Don't worry. I'll make sure that I'm around whenever he's there." Carlton groaned as he passed over the key. "Like tonight, he's not allowed over until dinner is almost ready."

"Wait, you're inviting Spencer!"

"Yeah and Henry and Gus. I'll need Henry's help in cooking and it only makes sense to invite the other two."

Getting up, Carlton growled, "Fine, but I want them out by 8!"

"I'll try but no promises." Beth smiled at Carlton's discomfort as she followed him out of the room.


	18. Chapter 18

_**CHAPTER 18**_

"So, what do you want to do?" Henry asked once they were in his truck a half hour later.

Looking out the window, Beth shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know."

"Okay," Henry put the truck into gear and started to pull out of the parking lot. "I've got a few errands that I need to do today."

"Okay. We should stop at Home Depot or something so I can get a key made."

"A key? What for?"

Beth smiled shyly as she turned back to him. "Well, I was going to announce it tonight at dinner. Which you, Shawn, Gus and probably Juliet are invited to. But I can tell you now." Beth took at deep breath as Henry divided his attention between her and the traffic. "I've decided to stay in Santa Barbara!"

"Wow," Henry blinked as he took it in. "That's a big decision."

"I know!" She laughed happily. "But you guys are so nice and I really feel like I should stay here."

"Does Carlton know?"

"Yeah, I asked him yesterday if I can stay with him until I get settled."

"And that's why you need a key made."

"Yep." Sighing, Beth collapsed in the seat. "Is this crazy? I mean, I barely know any of you. I'll basically be starting over. New job, new house, new friends. It's actually kind of scary."

"Change is scary but it's usually worth it in the end."

Beth smiled as she faced forward. "Thanks Henry."

"No problem honey. And if you need any help checking out places, I'll be happy to come with you. Make sure that you're not buying a money pit."

"Thanks, I appreciate that but I'll probably rent first. I bought my house in Ohio from a church member who was moving into a retirement home. There was a lot of work to be done but it was cheaper than buying one through a reality agency. I don't even know where to start! I'll probably have to get Susie and Crissy to start on fixing my house up for selling. Probably have them paint all the rooms, get the floors cleaned, windows washed. Ug, it's going to take forever! Maybe I should go back and get started on it myself."

Pulling into the Home Depot parking lot, Henry said, "I think that they can handle it. Just make sure you take some time to sort through things and decide what to keep and what to give away."

"Oh, that's going to be one of the hardest parts! I've got so many things I keep for memory's sake and then some things that are just in case I need them."

"Well, maybe you should put those just in case things in storage. If you don't need them after a year or two, get rid of them."

"Thanks Henry," Beth smiled as they got out of the car.

"Anytime."

* * *

><p>As they were eating lunch, Henry asked, "So, what are you planning for dinner tonight?"<p>

Staring at her food, Beth didn't answer. Clearing his throat, Henry tried again, "Hey Beth?"

Flinching a bit, Beth blushed as she looked at him. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

"I was just wondering what you were making tonight."

"Oh, basically corn beef and cabbage. Plenty of potatoes because my family loves them, although I might have to get canned since I can't really peel with my brace."

"I can do the peeling," Henry offered as he took a sip of his water.

"You don't have to. I mean, with 6 people and leftovers, that's probably close to 5 pounds."

"I'll be fine. Anything else?"

She started picking at her food. "Well, I usually get baby carrots, so no problems there. Celery and onions will need to chopped up but I can manage that. The bread and dessert I'll probably need a little help with but it won't be too hard."

"Do you always cook so much when you're injured?"

"Yep. I seem to be the most active when I'm injured. I broke my ankle in 6th grade and again in 12th and since then, every time it's acting up, I seem to have more energy. It's very weird. Probably some weird chemical reaction, but whatever." Sighing, she tossed the fry she was playing with. "Can we go out on your boat?"

"You mean to fish? Because we'd have to swing by my house first."

"No, can we go out and just sit there or something?" she started fidgeting in her seat.

Pushing his plate aside, he leaned forward. "Are you okay?"

She laughed and started playing with her food again. "That's the question of the week, isn't it: Am I okay?"

"People have good reason to ask you that, after all you've been through recently. It also means that people care about you."

"I know and I'm glad that somebody does." Sighing, Beth pushed her own plate away. "Can we please get out of here and go somewhere quiet, either on the ocean or to a park?"

"Sure, let's go."

* * *

><p>When they got out into the middle of the ocean, Beth sat in a chair and just stared out across the water. Giving her some space, Henry took out a book he kept onboard and found a spot on the other side of the boat.<p>

A couple hours later, after realizing that he had fallen asleep, Henry went over to check on Beth and found that she was asleep too. Smiling slightly, he grabbed his spare blanket and draped it over her. He was about to go back to his reading when his cell phone went off. Answering quickly, Henry made his way to the other side of the boat.

"Yeah?"

"Hey Dad! What's up?"

"Nothing, now why are you calling me? Don't you have a case to work on?"

"Oh, I finished it about an hour ago. It was really simple. One of the partners was transferring small amounts of money out of the company account each month. It was such a small amount each time that they just assumed it was an accounting error, but he'd been at it for years and had accumulated thousands of dollars. Sufficient to say, the guy is no longer a partner and will be facing jail time."

Rubbing his forehead, Henry took a seat. "That's great kid, but cut the crap. I know that that's not why you called. So save us both the trouble and tell me in the next 10 seconds or I'm hanging up. 10, 9, 8, 3, 2.…"

"Okay, okay! Jeez Louise! What's wrong with a little small talk these days? First Lassie, now you."

"Shawn!"

"Fine! *sigh* How's Beth?"

"She's fine. We're out on the boat and she's sleeping."

"Has she mentioned about what happened this morning?"

Looking back towards Beth, Henry replied, "No, what happened?"

"Dad, I probably shouldn't. …"

"Shawn!"

"Okay. Well, they were bringing that Frank loser in…."

"You mean Fred?"

"Yeah, him. I don't know all the details, but while Beth was standing nearby, he managed to get away from his police escort and um, came at her. Sufficed to say, she freaked out. "

Sighing, Henry slammed a fist into the railing, "Dammit! I'll kill him! And then I'm going to kill those officers. That should not happen within a police station!"

"I totally agree, but you don't have to worry about the officers. They've already had such a telling off by both the Chief and Lassie. They'll be on desk duty for the next week, and then traffic patrol."

"Good!" Henry took a deep breath. He was about to continue when he heard a noise from the other side of the boat. Going towards it, he said. "Listen, Beth's making dinner tonight at Carlton's and she wants you, Gus and Juliet there."

"Really? Why?"

"Just be there kid." Henry saw that Beth was still sleeping but seemed to be having a nightmare. "Plan for coming around 6, I'll let you know if that changes."

"Okay, bye pop!"

"Bye," Henry quickly hung up as he tried to decide what to do. When Shawn was younger and had nightmares, Madeleine comforted him. Hearing Beth whimpered, Henry quickly moved forward and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey sweetie, it's just a dream, you're alright."

Gasping, Beth woke up and stared wide eyed at Henry before covering her mouth and turning away. Kneeling down, Henry rubbed her arm and asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Laughing, Beth looked towards him. "Not really."

"Talking is suppose to help, at least that's what my ex-wife says. She's a psychologist."

"A psychologist and a cop for parents. Wow, I so pity Shawn." She smiled sadly as she rearranged the blanket.

"Yeah, I guess he had it rough." Henry continued to rub her arm. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

"Not really. How am I suppose to get over it if everyone keeps bringing it up?"

"That's a good question and I wish I could give you an answer."

Taking a deep breath, Beth looked out to the sea. "Do you really want to know?"

"I'd like to help, so yeah, I want to know."

Closing her eyes, she pulled the blanket closer. "I keep revisiting what happened in the bedroom. Fred breaking down the door, taunting me, attacking me, stripping me while I'm unconscious." She paused and took a deep breath. "Him ra-raping me and then Carlton coming in to save me. But it doesn't always happen like that. Some, sometimes there's more abuse. Sometimes Carlton never shows up. Sometimes Fred kills me. And then the really scary times are when Fred k-kills Carlton and the last thing he sees is Fred raping me while I'm crying to him for help. It makes me feel guilty for putting Carlton into that situation and how things could have turned out differently. He was just being himself, this really nice, caring guy and I could have put him in danger because I called him instead of the police."

She started crying and Henry reached forward and awkwardly pulled her into a hug. "Hey, it was a good thing that you called him because he was 3 minutes closer than anyone else. And he's an officer, he knows the risks. If you ask him, he'd tell you that he would gladly put his life on the line in order to protect you. He's as protective of you as he is of Juliet and his sister."

Nodding, Beth pulled back. "Thanks. Even though I knew all those facts, it's still good to hear someone else say them."

"I'm glad it helped."

Wiping her face, she asked, "What time is it?"

"Almost 3."

"Can we go back? There's a few things that I need to get for dinner."

"Sure thing." Henry patted her shoulder as he stood up. Heading to the helm, he heard Beth whisper, "Thanks."


	19. Chapter 19

_**CHAPTER 19**_

When Carlton arrived home a little before 6, he was starving and the smells from the kitchen were not helping. He was halfway to the kitchen when he recognized one of the smells. "Is that?" Rushing to the kitchen, he almost plowed over Beth who was coming out with plates.

Managing to regain her balance without dropping the plates, Beth laughed "I guess you approve?"

Taking the plates from her, Carlton tried to look into the kitchen, only to get blocked. "Are you making what I think you're making?"

Smiling slyly, she pushed him towards the dining room. "That depends, what do you think I'm making?"

Placing the plates on the table, he turned towards her expectantly. "Is it Irish Stew?"

"Close. I don't like lamb, so I use corn beef. Basically the same recipe. And I made Irish soda bread."

Moaning, he gave her quick hug. "I can't believe I'm saying this but can I ask you to marry me?"

Beth giggled as she stepped back. "I don't know, how badly will you kill me for telling Shawn that you're taking a page out of his book?" She smiled evilly.

"You wouldn't dare!"

Hearing the doorbell, Beth's smile grew bigger as she inched toward the door. "Speak of the devil. Do you want to tell him or should I?"

Growling, Carlton chased after her as she squeaked and ran. He managed to catch her feet away from the door. Picking her up, he carried her to the sofa, ignoring her half hearted protests.

"Noooo, it's not fair! You're bigger than me. Henry help!" Beth's pleads were interrupted by giggles.

"Hey! If anything, you have an unfair advantage. My ankle is still healing." Carlton plopped her on the couch as Henry came out of the kitchen to get the door.

"Henry! Help me!" Beth laughed as Carlton sat on the couch next to her and held her back.

Shaking his head, Henry continued to the door. "Sorry sweetie. I'm afraid with my back, I wouldn't be much help."

"No!" Beth giggled as she got up, only to be pulled back and land on top of Carlton.

Shawn, Gus and Juliet entered at that point, Shawn stage whispering, "See! I told you she was good for him."

"Shawn! Help me! He doesn't want me to tell you that mmmm!" Carlton covered her mouth with his hand while he continued to hold her back.

"Ooo, Lassie doesn't want me to know something? I must join in." Shawn bounded forward as Carlton started to protest.

"If you lay one finger on either of us, I will personally shoot you."

At the sound of Carlton growling in her ear, Beth all of a sudden froze and started panicking. Noticing the change instantly, Carlton let go of her. She collapsed on all fours on the floor, trying to catch her breath.

Kneeling down next to her, Carlton tried to get her to look at him. "Hey, Beth, I'm sorry. You just need to breathe, you're safe okay?"

She looked at him and nodded, still trying to calm down. Carlton heard Henry ushering the others out of the room but Shawn stayed, sitting down on the other side of her. She flinched when he placed a hand on her back.

"Beth," Shawn whispered. Beth looked at him as she continued to struggle. "I need you to block out everything but your breathing, my voice, and my hand on your back, okay? Just take a deep breath and let it out, in rhythm with my hand."

Shawn started moving his hand slowly as Beth closed her eyes. "That's good, just keep concentrating." Shawn locked eyes with Carlton before looking back at her. "In and out, it's just a natural process. In and out."

After a few minutes, Beth's breathing finally returned to normal. She sighed and leaned back on her heels. "Thanks," she breathed out.

"You're welcome!" Shawn smiled as he hopped up and went to join the others.

Sitting next to her, Carlton stuttered, "I'm um, I'm s-sorry."

Beth shook her head as she sniffled and leaned into him. "No, it's not your fault. If anything, it's Fred's. Dammit! We were having so much fun too!" Beth closed her eyes as she tried to stop the tears.

Wrapping an arm around her, he said, "The night's still young and Spencer's here, who knows what trouble he'll cause."

"Yeah." She wiped her eyes. Hearing his stomach rumbled, Carlton blushed as Beth laughed, "I think you're hungry."

"Yeah, well I didn't have a lot for lunch." He mumbled as his stomach growled again.

Laughing, Beth stood up. "Come on, before the food gets too cold."

Following her, he said, "I just hope Spencer doesn't eat all of it."

Beth laughed as they entered the dining room and were met with Shawn and Henry arguing over who was sitting where.

"Shawn, it doesn't matter! Just pick a seat."

"But dad it does matter!" Shawn whined as he hopped from seat to seat. "If I sit on an end and the person next to me is talking, then I'll most likely miss most of what's being said!"

"Then sit in the middle or don't eat!" Henry snapped as he marched into the kitchen. Carlton shook his head as he went to help.

"Shawn, you can sit across from me." Beth smiled as she sat in the middle of one side. "While Carlton sits on my left."

Shawn plopped down into the assigned chair and whined, "But I wanted to sit next to you!"

Gus sat next to him and elbowed him in the side. "Be nice or I'll side with your dad about sending you home."

"What? Gus you can't do that! You never side with the parent over the best friend! That's like breaking half the rules in the best friend handbook."

"I don't care! I'm hungry and you're holding up the meal." Gus looked toward the kitchen.

"Beth! Help me out!" Shawn whined as he faced her.

"Sorry, Shawn. I'm hungry too. I've been smelling this food for over 2 hours and I'm not going to let you make me wait any longer."

Juliet giggled at the sad expression on Shawn's face as she entered and set a bottle of wine on the table. "Are you making trouble Shawn?"

"Of course not, Jules! Why? Would you punish me?" Shawn looked at her innocently.

Blushing, Juliet sat next to him. "No, I would send your father in to deal with you."

Shawn's face dropped as Henry and Carlton entered with the food. There was small talk as the food and wine was passed around and people started eating.

"Oh my god, this is so good! Beth you are such a great cook!" Shawn exclaimed as he took another bite.

Leaning forward, Beth smiled slyly. "What? No marriage proposal tonight?"

"What?" Shawn laughed nervously as he glanced at Juliet. "Why would I propose just because of some delicious food? That's crazy!"

"Really? Because if I recall correctly, you proposed to me twice Tuesday night." Beth took a sip of her wine as Shawn sputtered.

Juliet looked at Shawn suspiciously while Henry and Carlton tired to keep straight faces. Gus seemed to be the only one unconcerned with the conversation.

"I was just kidding, it was a joke. Right Beth?" Shawn looked at her desperately.

"Don't tease me now." Beth asked in her southern accent. "Have I your heart, my darling? I love you."

Carlton and Henry laughed as Shawn squirmed even more. "Beth, this isn't funny."

"And why not Spencer?" Carlton crossed his arms as Beth continued quoting the movie.

"I know you must care about me!"

"Beth, please stop." Shawn pleaded as he shrank into his chair.

"You're course and you're conceited. And I think this conversation has gone far enough!"

At this Juliet started laughing since Shawn was almost on the floor. Smiling, Beth took another sip of her wine before talking in her normal voice. "Besides, I've already gotten a marriage proposal tonight, and I haven't made up my mind yet."

The table seemed to still as Carlton blushed. Shawn sat up in his chair and leaned forward. "Lassie! Is that why we're here? You're going to marry Beth!"

"No! I was just joking with her like you were earlier." Carlton mumbled as he reached for his glass and gulped down some wine.

Beth smiled widely as she patted his arm. "He's right, but that was why we were fighting when you got here. He was trying to prevent me from telling you that you've been rubbing off on him."

Carlton blushed even more as Shawn laughed. Leaning forward, Gus asked, "So why are we here?"

Beth smiled as the whole table turned to her. Patting Carlton's hand, she replied, "Well, while I will be staying with Carlton a while longer, it's not because of marriage." Beth took a deep breath as she looked at Shawn. "I've decided to stay in Santa Barbara."

"Eek!" Shawn exclaimed happily as he jumped out of his seat rushed around the table to hug her. "This is excellent! We're going to have so much fun bugging Lassie!"

Carlton groaned as he smiled into his cup.

Pulling back from the hug, Beth smiled. "Thanks for the support." Looking around the table, she noticed that Juliet was smiling knowingly. "I see that Carlton couldn't wait to spill the beans!"

"Yeah, well it kind of slipped out of him this morning. Although," Juliet turned back to Carlton, "Now that I think about it, he let something else slip that I didn't understand. Care to elaborate Carlton?"

"Nope," Carlton said gruffly as he picked up his and Beth's plates and headed to the kitchen.

"What did he say?" Shawn asked as he sat back down.

"Not much. Something about you and me being partially responsible for them meeting."

"Really?" Shawn looked suspiciously at Carlton as he came back in for more dishes. "Hey Lassie, what is she talking about? I mean, I guess it was kind of my doing that you guys left the pub together, but that doesn't make any sense about Jules except that she sent me."

Glancing at both Beth and Henry, Carlton replied as he returned to the kitchen. "I'm not sharing."

Giggling, Beth stood up and grabbed a couple plates. "I'll be right back." She winked at Shawn before shutting the door between the two rooms.

Carlton was busying himself by looking through the tuber ware while Beth came in and put the plates in the sink.

"So spill. What was Juliet referring to?"

"I'm not telling you! You'd just tell them." Carlton grumbled as he started filling the containers.

Sighing, Beth hopped up on the counter next to him and pouted. "Come on Carly! I'm really good at keeping secrets when I have to!"

"No, maybe after they leave. When are they leaving?"

"I don't know. You told me 8 and it's not even 7 yet."

"So I have to entertain for another hour?" Carlton groaned as he put the leftovers in the fridge.

"Yeah, but we can just play a game."

"I don't have any games!"

Beth smiled as she went to the door. "Don't worry, I know what we can play."

Carlton followed her out the door but stopped in the dining room as she continued to the bedrooms, bopping to a song in her head. Shaking his head, he turned to the group that was staring at him. Frowning, he asked, "What?"

"Nothing Lassie," Shawn said as he took another sip.

"We're all just glad that you two get along so well," Juliet said as she elbowed Shawn.

Shrugging his shoulders, Carlton grabbed a few more plates. "She reminds me of Lulu."

"I think I should take that as a compliment," Beth said as she re-entered the room. "Who's Lulu? Hopefully not a dog, because that'll be weird."

"No, Lulu is my kid sister, the one that I said was about your age."

Smiling, Beth kissed his cheek. "Then I'll definitely take that as a compliment. So," She turned back the group at large who were trying to hide their smiles and held up a pack of well-worn playing cards. "Who wants to play cards?"

"As long as it isn't poker or any other strategy game, then yes." Henry replied as he leaned back in his chair.

"Why?" Juliet asked.

"Because Shawn will almost always win."

Shawn groaned as he leaned back. "You're such a party popper, Dad!"

"Okay. I would suggest ERS, but with my brace, I'd be at a disadvantage." Beth said as she sat down at the table.

"What's ERS?" Juliet asked.

"Egyptian Rat Screw. It's basically Slapjack, but a bit more complicated. I was never very good at it since it involves very fast situational assessment and reflexes." Beth started shuffling the cards as Carlton returned to his seat. "How about Indian poker?"

When there were no objections about playing, just the name of it, Beth turned to Carlton. "Do you have any poker chips?"

"No."

Beth leaned back in her seat for a second before smiling and getting up. "I'll be right back."

Once she was out of the room, Shawn leaned forward and asked, "Are you sure she's not bi-polar?"

"Shawn!" Henry reprimanded as Gus and Juliet both hit him.

"Ow! I was only half-joking." Shawn sulked.

Beth came back in with a couple packages of Oreos. "We can use these. One in to play and then one or two if you think that you're higher."

"If we don't think that we have the highest card, can we drop out?" Gus asked.

"Yeah, just like regular poker, you fold and your card is out of the running." Beth opened a package and started passing them around.

"And Shawn, no cheating." Henry admonished as the package came to him.

"What? Dad I would never cheat." Shawn looked slightly hurt.

"I mean it kid, play right or go home."

"Fine."

Beth laughed as she shuffled the cards and passed one out to each person.


	20. Chapter 20

_**CHAPTER 20**_

About a half hour into the game, it was so chaotic that Henry excused himself and went to do dishes. Shawn had collected a huge pile of cookies and was starting to eat them. Beth and Juliet were giggling so much that they were having a hard time keeping their cards on their foreheads. Gus and Carlton were the only ones who seemed to be taking the game seriously, even though Gus was almost out of cookies.

"Shawn! Stop eating the bet." Beth giggled as Carlton took the current pot.

"What? They're so good and I'm hungry!" Shawn whined as he took another one.

"But you'll fill up and not have any room for dessert."

Shawn instantly dropped the cookie half way to his mouth. "Dessert? There's more food that you've made and I didn't know about it? What is it? More pineapple? More pie? A cake?"

"Can you please just tell him before I shoot him or something!" Carlton groaned as he started shuffling the cards.

Beth smiled as she stood up. "I think this game is almost over since Carlton and Shawn have over 80% of the uneaten cookies. So I'll go get plates and dessert while you guys figure out what to do with the cookies."

"Dude, I think we just got permission to take the cookies with us!" Shawn said to Gus as Beth left the room.

Laughing, Beth went over to Henry who was drying the dishes. "You know, Carlton apparently doesn't like other people doing his dishes."

"Too bad, he'll just have to live with it."

"Okay, don't say I didn't warn you." Beth said as she went to one of the cupboards.

"Warn him of what?" Carlton asked as he entered and leaned against the counter.

Beth smiled as she took the plates down two at a time. "That you don't appreciate other people washing your dishes."

Carlton looked over the dishes before saying, "Today I don't mind since there are so many of them." Grabbing the plates from Beth, he asked, "So what's for dessert?"

Beth smiled widely. "You'll find out. Now get! I need to grab a few things for on top and then Henry and I will bring it out."

"Fine, you're the cook. Or baker." Carlton shook his head as he went back into the kitchen.

Beth laughed as she opened the fridge. Henry dried his hands before joining her. "Don't tell Shawn, but I agree with him. You're good for each other, you and Carlton. I'm glad you're staying."

She smiled as she handed him the casserole dish and grabbed the extra ingredients. "Thanks! It's almost like when I was in my late teens, the camaraderie and such with my siblings. We don't get to do that much anymore since we all moved apart and they've started growing their own families. Sometimes I miss how close we used to be." Beth became quiet as she got out the silverware.

"It's tough sometimes, drifting apart." Henry said as he rubbed her back. "My younger brother Jack and I are so different. But different can be good. Makes you realize how special you are."

Beth smiled as she turned around and gave Henry a hug. "Thanks Henry."

"Beth! Stop hugging my dad and get in here!" Shawn called from the other room.

Laughing, Beth pulled back and grabbed some of the things. "He's so impatient! How the hell did you do it?"

"By giving him tasks and puzzles to distract him." Henry said as he followed her into the dining room.

"Finally!" Shawn exclaimed, trying to avoid Gus's elbow only to get a head slap from Juliet. "Ow! Can I change seats?"

"Sorry, but the only available seats are outside and then you won't get any dessert." Beth grinned as she sat down.

"Oh, that looks delicious Beth!" Juliet exclaimed as Henry placed the dish on the table.

"Is that strawberries, cream cheese and pretzels?" Gus asked as he leaned forward.

"Spot on, Gus! I'm impressed!" Beth smiled as she passed Henry the spatula and plates. "There's also Jell-o and Cool Whip in it. I've got extra strawberries and Cool Whip."

"Are you sure that you want to stay with Carlytown? I mean, I'm a much funer person to hang out with, and you can almost always pull me away from work to do stuff. You can even tag along with us on cases!" Shawn said as he was passed a plate.

"Shawn! Funer is not a word. It's more fun. And you don't have a second bedroom or even a real kitchen! How is she suppose to cook for you? Besides, you do not need another excuse to ditch work and leave me to do your job." Gus said as he took the plate from Shawn and dug in.

"Gus! Why did you tell her all that? She didn't need to know!" Shawn exclaimed as he waited to be passed another plate.

"Although, Beth, you are always welcome to join us at the office." Gus said between bites.

"Thank you Gus." Beth smiled. "I might be tagging along for awhile until I can get a full time job. I mean, music gigs are great, they're so much fun, but I need something a bit more steady."

"What exactly did you do in Ohio?" Juliet asked.

"Well, I worked in childcare. I'm certified to teach preschool and up to grade 2. So I'll probably be looking at daycare centers in the area."

There was silence for a few minutes until Beth gasped and covered her mouth.

Carlton put his hand on her back and leaned forward, "Are you okay?"

"I just remembered that I've got a gig tomorrow night and a try-out Monday morning! And I've hardly practiced at all!"

"You'll be fine." Carlton said as her rubbed her back.

"But I've had my wrist in a brace for almost a week! That's going to affect my playing, especially piano. I mean, I can probably play with the brace, it'll just be a bit awkward. Grr! I wish I had my keyboard."

Shawn leaned forward. "Let me make some calls, I bet I can find you a piano for tomorrow afternoon."

"Really? Because I would really appreciate that."

"Of course! I've worked for half the businesses in Santa Barbara, both before and because of Psych. Don't worry." Shawn shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

"Thanks!" Beth smiled as she scrapped the rest of her food.

*Smack*

"Ow! Gus stop hitting me!" Shawn exclaimed as he held his hand.

"Quit playing Shawn! This is my food. It's not my fault that you inhaled yours quickly." Gus said as he moved his plate further away from Shawn.

Beth and Juliet laughed as Carlton and Henry groaned. Beth's laugh was interrupted by a yawn which only seemed to make her laugh harder. "Sorry, it's been a long day."

"It's fine." Standing up, Henry started collecting plates. "I think that it's about time Shawn and I get going."

"What? Dad, I don't wanna go!" Shawn pouted. "Why can't I stay and get a ride from Gus?"

"Because, in case you've forgotten, my door hasn't been fixed so I'm still staying with you and you have the key." Henry walked into the kitchen.

"Can I just give you my keys?" Shawn yelled.

"Shawn! Don't test me right now!" Henry yelled back. Carlton shook his head and grabbed a few dishes and followed Henry.

Shawn turned to Gus, "Gus, buddy old pal. Can I stay at your place tonight?"

"Nope, sorry. I've got some new medication to learn about and I don't need you distracting me. I have to present on it Monday morning."

"Gus!"

"Sorry." Gus got up, rounded the table and held out his hand to Beth. "It was nice to hang out with you tonight, you are a fabulous cook and I'll see you tomorrow."

Beth smiled and pulled him into a hug. "Thanks for coming." Pulling back she said, "You have to tell me some of your tricks with dealing with Shawn."

"Beth!" Shawn whined as they laughed.

"It might take a couple days." Gus joked as he grabbed his coat. "Good night everyone."

"Jules?"

Smiling, Juliet patted his shoulder. "Sorry Shawn, but I've got to work in the morning and knowing you, you'll find some way to keep me from sleeping."

Shawn deflated even more. "Thanks a lot guys."

Henry and Carlton returned at this moment. "Are you ready to go kid?"

"Yeah, sure." Shawn slowly got out of chair and went to hug Beth. "Call me if you ever get bored or something. And if you can save me tomorrow, that'll be awesome!"

Beth laughed as they pulled apart. "Sorry, but after church, I'm going to be practicing, especially if you can find me a piano."

Shawn gave her mock salute. "I will do my best to fulfill my mission."

"Alright smartass, let's go." Henry pushed Shawn towards the door. "Goodnight Beth, Carlton."

"Night." Beth smiled as they opened the door.

"BYE LASSIE!"

Groaning, Carlton grabbed a few more dishes. "I'll see you at work O'Hara."

"Alright, but are you sure you won't tell me?"

"No, now get out before I lose my patience." Carlton practically whined as he made his way into the kitchen.

Giggling, Beth gave her hug. "Are you coming tomorrow night?"

"Of course! I'll see you then. Good night Carlton!"

"Night." Carlton called as Beth walked Juliet to the door.

Smiling, Beth asked, "Can you tell that dinner was my idea?"

"Of course, I never doubted it. I'm glad to see him loosen up a bit. Bye Beth."

"Bye Juliet." Watching until Juliet had driven off, Beth shut the door and collapsed on the couch. Carlton joined her a few seconds later with a glass of scotch. "Are you sure you need more alcohol? You must have had 4 or 5 glasses of wine and were getting a bit tipsy during dessert."

"I always have scotch after having to deal with Spencer for long periods of time."

She crossed her arms tightly. "Fine. I'll just lock my door tonight."

"Crap," Carlton sighed as he put the scotch down and turned to her. "I'm sorry, I should have realized. From now on, I won't have enough to get drunk while you're here."

"No, you don't have to." Beth said as she scooted closer to him and laid her head on his shoulder. "It's stupid, you're nothing like him."

He wrapped an arm around her and held her tight. "No I'm not. Just remember that I'll never do anything to hurt you. Besides, I'm a lousy drunk, as you should have realized the first time we met. If anything, I get more depressed and lethargic. Alcohol helps me sleep."

She laughed as she cuddled closer. "Okay. But it might take me some time."

"I've got plenty of time."

"Good. Now can you put on movie on or something. I don't want to go to bed yet."

"I thought you were tired." Carlton said as he reached for the remote.

Beth blushed, "Well, I was kind of putting on a show. I knew it was getting close to 8 and that your patience was wearing thin, so I just helped to get them to leave."

He looked at her stunned for a few seconds before laughing and giving her a hug. "Spencer was right, you should have gone into acting."

"Ooo, another thing to tell Shawn?" She smiled cheekily.

"You're incorrigible."

"Thanks!"

"That wasn't a compliment!" Carlton growled.

Beth laughed as she grabbed a blanket and placed it over them. "I've already told you, eye of the beholder."

Carlton shook his head as he put the remote on the table, leaving an old musical on.

"Aw! Fred and Ginger. I love this movie!" She said as they got comfortable.

"I figured you'd like Berlin as well as Gershwin."

"You're such a good detective."

"Are you mocking me?"

"No, I'm giving you a compliment. Now be quiet! This is my favorite scene in the entire movie."

"Whatever." Carlton grumbled as she poked him in the ribs. His frown turned into a slight smile as Beth started singing along.


	21. Chapter 21

_**CHAPTER 21**_

The first thing Carlton thought the next morning was that his alarm clock was so not helping his hangover. Slapping the infernal device off, he pulled his blankets over his head to help block out the light. He usually showed up to the station at least an hour early, so nobody would mind if he slept in and arrived at the time he was suppose to, especially if it meant a less grumpy head detective.

Intending to fall back asleep, Carlton turned on his side and had just closed his eyes when light singing reached him. Listening, he realized that it must be Beth. For someone who wasn't a morning person, she sure was perky for 7am. As he listened to her, he realized that she was in the kitchen and that his stomach really wanted to know what she was making. Grumbling, he threw back the covers and grabbed his robe.

Walking into the kitchen, he smiled as he watched Beth dance in her pj's, singing along to the radio as she collected ingredients. "You know, you look very graceful when you dance," he said softly

Beth threw him a smile as she cracked open some eggs. "Only when there's no pressure. I once tripped when trying to dance along a riser at school. Needless to say, I was always put on the floor after that."

Laughing, Carlton went to start the coffee. "So what are you making?"

"You'll find out when I'm done, which will be in about 30 minutes. So go on and take a shower or something." Beth shooed him away as she grabbed the bread.

"Fine. Don't let my coffee get cold. I'm going to need it today." he grumbled as he left the room.

"MAYBE IF YOU WEREN'T HUNG OVER!" She yelled, causing Carlton pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You did that on purpose!" He called back quietly.

"I know!" Beth laughed as she shut the door.

Shaking his head, Carlton headed down the hall.

* * *

><p>Almost exactly 30 minutes later, Beth called out, "BREAKFAST!" as Carlton was putting on his tie.<p>

"Would you please stop yelling! I have neighbors you know." Carlton scolded as he headed down the hall

Beth smiled as she met him by the dining room door. "Yes, I do know. I met them Friday. The elderly couple are very nice and they go to the church that I visited last week, and they invited me to sit with them today. They usually leave around 8:30, so they should be up by now. The other neighbor is a lovely young lady about my age who works at the university and is out of town this weekend. So no worries about waking up any of them."

Carlton shook his head as he tried to move past her but she blocked his path. Sighing, he put his hands on her shoulders. "Are we eating or not? Because I have to get to work."

"Of course we are!" She nodded. "I'm just curious if that is what you're wearing today."

He looked down at his outfit. "What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing, except that it's boring. You're coming to the pub tonight and you probably won't have time to come back and change. You go eat and I'll pick something out for you." Beth moved out of his grip and went down the hall.

"I told you I have to go to work! I don't have time to change!" He called after her.

She stopped at his door and smiled at him. "Nice try, but Juliet told me that you don't have to be in until 9, so you have plenty of time to eat, change and still be at the station early. Now go eat before the food gets cold!" Without waiting for him to respond, she went in and closed the door.

Taking a deep breath to stop himself from following her, Carlton walked into the dining room and sighed at the spread that met him. There was French toast, eggs, bacon and fresh fruit. Filling up his plate, he quickly sat down with his coffee and started eating.

He was about half way done when Beth came back into the room and sat next to him. "I laid the clothes out on your bed. You seriously need to update your wardrobe."

"My clothes are just fine." Carlton commented as he got up to refill his coffee.

"Yeah, for a boring old cop. But come on! You need to start dating again!"

He almost dropped his mug as he went to take a sip. "I told you that I'm horrible at dating. Besides, they never work out."

"Carlton! Stop selling yourself short! You are cute and assertive. I would totally date you! I told you that when we were at Stern's Wharf. I honestly thought that we were on a date."

"And you see how that relationship worked out? I got myself a kid sister instead of a girlfriend." He sat down and tried to concentrate on his food.

"But I'm a very cute sister, right?" Beth smiled widely.

"Ye-Yes. Yes you are. Now can I finish eating?"

"Sure, why not." She replied as she made herself a plate.

Carlton waited until she was done before helping to clear the table. When the last of the food was put away, Beth dragged him down the hall.

"Now go get changed!" She said as she pushed him towards the door.

"Do I have to? I honestly don't care what other people think."

Beth crossed her arms. "Everybody cares a little bit, even of they don't want to admit it. Now go get changed before I help you and 'accidentally' destroy all your boring clothes."

"You wouldn't dare!" Carlton growled as he got right in her face.

She tilted her head and smile. "Oh I so would."

Growling, he turned around and went into his room, slamming the door behind him. He heard Beth humming happily as she entered her own room. When he saw the shirt and tie waiting on his bed, he stared at them for a few seconds before leaving and knocking on Beth's door.

"I can't wear that shirt to work."

Beth sighed as she opened the door slightly, hiding behind it since she was only wearing a robe. "Yes you can. What's wrong with it?"

Looking over her shoulders, Carlton said, "It's a silk shirt and I'll stick out at work."

"You're on desk duty, nobody will care."

"Yes they will!"

Beth sighed again as she rested her forehead on the door. "Fine. At least wear the tie. And then if you have time after work, will you please change your shirt? You don't have to wear the tie or jacket to the pub, just the shirt and pants, okay?"

He crossed his arms and looked down at his feet for a moment before nodding, "Okay."

"Oh goodie!" Beth stepped forward to kiss him on the cheek. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a shower and get ready for church. Have a good day at work!" She smiled as she closed the door.

"Yeah thanks," Carlton mumbled as he returned to his room. Shaking his head, he changed his tie before picking up the shirt and leaving the house.

* * *

><p>Luckily, the day was uneventful, not like Carlton would have been called anywhere if it wasn't. He was just turning off his computer and organizing his desk when Juliet came over.<p>

"Hey Carlton?"

Carlton looked at her questionably before replying, "Yes?"

She leaned against the pillar next to his desk. "Are you going to the pub tonight to watch Beth?"

"Yes, why?" He crossed his arms.

"I was just checking because Beth was really worried last time. And with everything that's happened in the last week, I didn't want you to disappoint her."

"I'm going, okay? Beth even picked out a shirt for me to wear, which I'm going to go change into right now. So if you'll excuse me, I've got to go." Carlton walked around her, ignoring her smile.

* * *

><p>When Carlton entered the pub a little before 6, Beth was sitting at the bar, trying to remain unnoticed. She had on a red blouse and black skirt and had her hair half up. Clearing his throat, he took the seat next to her. Beth jumped a little before smiling.<p>

"How was your day?" She asked as she stirred her water.

"It was fine, a bit boring, but I was okay with that today."

"Good." She nodded as the bartender showed up.

"Can I get a beer, whatever's on tap. Thanks," Carlton turned back to Beth who was tapping her fingers on the bar. "So, how was your day?"

She smiled as she took a sip "It was good. I had a nice talk with your neighbors, the Conners. They are so sweet! We talked about what I do and they introduced me to the church music director, who said that as soon as I'm settled and have my schedule figured out, I should join their choir."

"That's nice."

"Yeah. I ended up having lunch with them. Then Shawn gave me a call and told me about a Father Westley who works at St. Attalus college, and he let me practice in one of the music rooms."

Carlton took a drink of his beer as soon as the bartender placed it in front of him. "Father Westley is a bit odd but I'm glad you got some time to practice."

"Me too, because I can't really move my wrist much, so playing guitar will be kind of hard."

She started fidgeting again and he reached over and covered her hands. "You'll be fine."

"I know." Beth nodded as she stared at their hands. "I'll just have to simplify the chords, almost going acapella."

"You'll do fine. You are a great singer."

She looked at him and smiled. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Carlton let go and turned back to his beer. "So, can I make a request?"

"Sure, but it doesn't mean that I'll listen."

He shook his head as she laughed.

* * *

><p>They talked for the next hour until she had to go onstage. Shawn showed up with Gus and Juliet and dragged Carlton to one of the front tables with them. Beth only made a few mistakes but they weren't too bad and quickly forgotten. She took the brace off for the last half hour and ended the night with singing "Que Sera, Sera" with the guitar.<p>

"Thank you everyone for bearing with me tonight. Hopefully by next time I'll be completely healed and able to play some more of the classic rock persuasion. Until then, have a great week. Good Night!"

As the crowd slowly broke up, Carlton managed to make his way up before Shawn. "You were fantastic!"

Beth smiled shyly as she pulled him in a half hug. "Thanks! I know that your pep talk earlier helped."

"I'm glad."

They pulled apart as Juliet, Shawn and Gus joined them, each pulling her into a hug. Carlton smiled as he started packing up her music. As he reached the guitar, Beth joined him.

"I can do that. Ow," Beth almost dropped her guitar when she went to grab it, instead clutching her right wrist to her chest.

"Are you okay?" Carlton asked as he reached for her arm.

Letting him flex it, Beth winced as she said, "I think I overdid it."

"Yeah, seems like it. Let me finish packing and you put your brace back on."

"Fine!" Beth huffed and went to retrieve the brace.

Noticing that he wouldn't be able to carrying everything, Carlton sighed before calling Shawn over. "Spencer, come here."

"Yes Lassie? What can I do for you?"

Handing over the notebooks of sheet music, Carlton growled, "I need you take these to Beth's car."

"Actually," Beth said as she joined them, pulling her coat on. "Once you've done that, can you drive my car to Carlton's house for me? I don't think that I should be driving when my wrist is hurting this bad."

"No problem. I'll just have Jules follow me. Gus has to go home and prep for his meeting tomorrow."

"Thanks Shawn," Beth handed over her keys. Turning to Carlton, she asked, "So, where are we going for dinner?"

"Oh, um." Carlton nervously picked up her guitar and backpack. "I don't know? Did you want fast food or pizza again?"

Beth hooked arms with him as they followed Shawn and Juliet out. "I love pizza but let's go with fast food. Is there an Arby's nearby?"

"No, I think the closest one is in Ventura and I'm not driving all the way out there this late when I have to work in the morning."

"Okay, then Subway?" Beth asked as she opened the door for him.

"Yeah, there should be one open this late. Although we'll most likely have to take it home."

"No problem." She smiled as they caught sight of Shawn trying to get the trunk open. "The trunk's lock is broken. I usually throw things in the back."

"How long has it been broken?" Carlton asked as he passed things to Shawn.

Beth shrugged her shoulders as she pulled her jacket tighter. "I don't know, a few months?"

"You haven't used your trunk in a few months?" Shawn asked as he closed the door and leaned against it.

"Nope."

"What if you got a flat while driving? What would you have done?" Carlton asked.

"I don't know, wait until a tow truck came and picked me up?"

Shaking his head, Carlton led the way to his car a few spots away. "It would be so much cheaper just to get it fixed."

"I know, maybe next week. Bye Shawn! Juliet!" Beth called as she went to follow Carlton.

"See ya Beth, Lassie." "Bye Guys."

Carlton grumbled a response as he unlocked his car.

Getting in beside him, Beth asked, "What's wrong with you? I thought that you like Juliet and Shawn?"

Taking a deep breath, he turned towards her. "I do, O'Hara more than Spencer, but not together."

"Oh, OH! They're a couple?" Beth looked out the window only to see Shawn and Juliet pulling out.

Putting the key in the ignition, Carlton mumbled, "Yeah."

"Wow, and they haven't told anyone? But they're so cute together!" Hearing Carlton growl, she asked, "How did you find out?"

"On accident." He pulled the car out of the parking lot and made their way down the street. "The day before we met, we had a very difficult and emotional case. The next morning, O'Hara was in the interrogation room to work on her statement in quiet. Spencer came in to talk to her and I just happened to be checking up on O'Hara when I saw the two of them exchange … heartfelt words and then a kiss. It wasn't hard to connect the dots. I'm guessing they've been together for several months and at least Guster knows but probably not Henry or the Chief."

"Oh, and that's why you were at the bar, because you were confused?"

"More or less. Between the case and that discovery, it was a lot to take in."

Silence rang in the car for a few minutes. As they pulled into the Subway parking lot, Beth asked, "And they don't know that you know?"

"No. If they did, I know that Spencer would probably be more careful since I'll kill him if he hurts O'Hara."

She smiled as he turned off the car. "Yeah, you're right. So I guess it was partly because of them that we met. Maybe I should get them a card, but what would it say? 'Thanks for introducing me to my new best friend even though you have no idea what you did.' That seems a bit pretentious."

Carlton laughed before turning towards her curiously. "You consider me a best friend?"

Beth smiled, "Yeah I do. I mean, I don't think you'll ever bump Susie out of first place, but you're definitely in the top 4."

"Wow, I guess, in a way, you're like my best friend." He said awkwardly.

Beth laughed as she kissed his cheek. "Okay, enough with this sappy conversation! I'm hungry and that sub is not going to make itself! If it did, it would probably be more expensive."

Carlton shook his head as he got out of the car and waited for Beth to join him.


	22. Chapter 22

_**CHAPTER 22**_

By the time lunch rolled around Monday morning, Carlton was tired. Besides not going to sleep until after midnight, he had a doctor's appointment at 8am. Then Fred's arraignment was scheduled for 9:30, but of course they didn't get to him until almost 11. The defense didn't have much of an argument, so the bail was set pretty high and the trial would begin Wednesday morning.

After stopping for a quick lunch at a drive thru, he was making his way towards the station steps when he heard someone call his name. Turning around, he saw Beth running towards him with a big smile on her face. Before he could say anything, she tackled him in a hug that would have sent them both to the ground if it wasn't for the cement wall behind him.

"I got a job!" Beth squealed as she pulled back just enough to look him in the face.

"Oh, so you got the gig?" Carlton was a bit confused as to why she was this excited.

"No, I mean yes. I mean." She took a deep breath before continuing. "Yes I got the gig and then the manger, his name's Evan, we started talking. I told him how I'm staying in Santa Barbara and will be looking for a full time job soon, so I didn't know how often I'll be able to play because he wants me to play twice a week and the other guy wants me to stay on for Sunday nights. He asked me what line of work I was looking for and I told him childcare and he said what a coincidence, his wife works at a preschool that will be needing a new teacher in the fall and it just so happens to be in connection with the church I've started going to. Isn't that crazy?"

"Um, yeah, yeah it is." Carlton was trying to keep up with her fast talking.

"So I went to meet with her and she said that they can hire me on part time as an assistant for now and then in the Fall, I can have my own class! It'll be a morning class so I can have plenty of time for practicing for gigs. Isn't that great?" Beth's smile was huge and she was practically jumping up and down.

"Wow. That's, that's really great." He couldn't help his smile.

"I know! I'm just so excited. I've got all this energy right now and. …"

Before Carlton knew it, Beth was kissing him. It took him a few seconds to restart his brain and he was just kissing her back when Beth gasped and stepped back. She looked like a deer in headlights and was covering her mouth with both hands. Still slightly stunned, he just stood there.

"Oh man, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that." Beth whispered quickly and started backing away when Carlton reached out and grabbed her arm. "Carlton, I um, I'm sorry."

Not sure what to say, he stepped forward and kissed her. This time it was Beth who was slow on the return but she caught up quickly. Carlton pulled her closer and was just deepening it when they were interrupted by an impatient cough.

Pulling back slightly, Carlton looked to see who it was, only to pale and take a couple steps back while blushing. "Crap," he muttered.

Chief Karen Vick smiled amusedly for a second before asking, "Carlton, are you going to introduce us?"

Still speechless, Carlton turned to Beth who was staring at the ground, looking about ready to bolt. Taking her hand gently and giving it a squeeze, Carlton turned back to Karen. "Chief, this is, um, Miss Elizabeth March. Beth, this is Police Chief Karen Vick."

Beth seemed to blush even more at the introduction and gave a slight wave. "Nice to met you Karen, Chief um Vick."

"Please, call me Karen, since you don't work for me. Although I've seen you around the station recently with Carlton."

"Yes, sorry about that ma'am, um Karen. I'm new to the city and don't really know anyone, so Carlton has been helping me out."

"I'm sure he has, he can be quite the gentlemen." Beth nodded as Karen turned back to Carlton. "You were suppose to meet me in my office 20 minutes ago."

"Yes, ma'am, I'm sorry. The hearing took a bit longer than I thought and I was just on my way in."

Karen smiled at his nervousness. "I'm sure you were. I expect you there in 5 minutes. Since you've been cleared for active duty, I have a case for you."

Carlton nodded, "Yes ma'am."

"Good." Turning back to Beth, Karen said, "It was nice to met you."

"You too, K-Karen." Beth smiled shyly as Karen left them alone.

Once she was out of sight, Carlton groaned, "Oh God, I can't believe that just happened!"

"Which part? The kiss? Or being caught by your boss?" Beth asked curiously.

"Both." Carlton groaned at her amused laugh. "What was that all about anyways? I thought we decided that we weren't dating? That we were fine with our pseudo-sibling, best friends relationship?"

She looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry. I-I got caught up in the moment! I had so many emotions running through me, I didn't even realize what I was doing until it was too late!" She flopped her hands up uselessly before smacking him in the chest. "You're the one who initiated the second kiss!"

"Ow." Carlton rubbed his chest and glared at the few officers walking past. "I was stunned, I didn't know what else to do! You looked ready to bolt and I just didn't think."

"Okay, well um, you better go before she comes looking for you again. I'm going to go hang out with Shawn and try to figure this out." She shook her head as she stepped back.

"Don't you dare tell him anything! It's bad enough that the Chief knows, I don't need Spencer annoying me." He groaned as he rubbed his face. "I don't know what's worse, that she seemed amused or that I didn't get reprimanded for making out while I'm technically on duty."

"Hey," Beth wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a hug. "We'll figure this out. I mean, I'm fine with just a friendship, but I wouldn't mind something more."

Carlton returned the hug and whispered, "I just don't know if I'm capable of something more."

They stood in the hug for about a minute before Beth pulled away. "I've got to go. I left my car at the preschool."

"You walked here? How far away is it?"

Beth shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I was running and it only took like 10-15 minutes."

"Which is about 2 miles." Sighing, Carlton looked back towards the station doors. "I would drive you, but I really should get in there."

"That's okay, it'll give me time to think." Beth kissed him on the cheek. "I'll see you tonight for dinner?"

"Yeah sure. Just the two of us, right?"

"Yep. I'm making spaghetti and garlic bread."

Carlton nodded his head as he straightened his jacket. "Okay, I'll call you when I'm leaving so the food doesn't get cold. With a new case, I'm not sure when I'll get home."

"Okay, bye." Beth started walking backwards.

"Bye," Carlton watched amused as Beth managed not to hit anyone before turning the corner. Shaking his head, Carlton squared his shoulders and went to see the Chief.

* * *

><p>When Beth parked her car down the street from the Psych office, she was still in a daze. She spent the last half hour trying to think things through, but she kept coming back to that kiss. She really didn't want to ruin their friendship but she wouldn't mind actually dating him.<p>

Banging her head on the steering wheel, Beth grabbed her purse and exited the car. Still a bit distracted, she walked right past the office before blushing and backtracking. Not sure if she should just walk in or knock, she did both.

"Hey Beth!" Shawn smiled as she entered the front office.

"Hey Shawn! Gus." She greeted as she stopped in the doorway. Her mind was still distracted and before she knew it, Shawn was right in front of her, waving his hand. "Oh my gosh! What are you doing?"

Shawn shared a look with Gus before saying, "You zoned out on us for about a minute there. Gus wanted to call an ambulance."

"No, I didn't Shawn! I was suggesting smelling salts, you were the one freaking out!"

Beth blushed as she looked away. Shawn smiled brightly as he put his hand to his temple. "I'm sensing that you got very good news today and that, no. No! No way!" Shawn exclaimed, his smile getting bigger. "Did you kiss Lassie?"

Beth looked at him shocked for a minute before stuttering, "May-maybe?"

Shawn looked back at Gus who was equally speechless. "Dude, you so gotta dish!" He took her hand and dragged her into one of the chairs before sitting across from her on the coffee table.

Beth laughed nervously, "I really shouldn't. I told him I wouldn't tell you, it's bad enough that Karen caught us." She gasped as she covered her mouth.

"The Chief caught you guys?" Gus asked as he got up and joined them. "Did Lassiter get in trouble?"

"This just keeps getting juicier and juicier." Shawn commented.

Beth shook her head, still covering her mouth and mumbled, "He's so going to kill me."

"No he won't," Shawn said as he patted her knee. "He might be a little upset, but he wouldn't kill you. Right Gus?" He looked pointedly at Gus.

Gus just shrugged his shoulders as he sat next to Shawn. "Most likely not. I mean, he doesn't have a very good track record when it comes to relationships, I don't think he'd risk ending one by shooting you for a simple mistake."

Beth finally put down her hands as she slouched into the chair. "That's just it, we don't know what our relationship is! We like our friendship as is, almost sibling-like, but I wouldn't mind actually dating him. But what if we decide that we couldn't date anymore? That would ruin our friendship, and I'd hate for that to happen because I have trouble making friends, as does Carlton." Beth sighed. "I'm just so confused right now. I wish Susie was here."

"Hey, you'll figure it out. You're a smart person." Shawn said as he playfully punched her shoulder. "So Lassie can be a bit high strung, emotionally-stunted."

"Trigger-happy, aggressive." Gus chimed in.

"But he's loyal and stubborn! I doubt that he'll let your friendship die if after dating for a bit, you call it quits. If it's meant to be, then it'll happen."

Beth smiled, "Thanks Shawn, you definitely know how to cheer a gal up."

"Why thank you. Now, give us the details! What exactly prompted the kiss and what was Chief Vick's reaction?"

Beth laughed at Shawn's enthusiasm before starting, "Well, I was very excited because not only did I get the gig, the guy was able to connect me with his wife who was about to start a search for a new preschool teacher."

"So you have a new job already?" Gus asked.

"Yeah, well it's a bit complicated right now. I'll be subbing for the next few months and assisting in the office. Then in the fall, I get to lead my own morning class." Beth smiled widely as Shawn shot forward and gave her a hug.

"That's awesome!" Pulling back, Shawn asked suggestively, "And that's when you kissed him?"

She giggled before saying, "Well, I sort of ran the 2 miles to the station, hugged him, told him my big news and before I realized what I was doing, I kissed him."

"And did he kiss you back?"

"After the shock wore off a little he did, but then I pulled back and he was just staring at me. I apologized and was about to run for it when he pulled me into another kiss. We were just getting into it when Karen showed up."

Shawn started laughing, "I would have loved to have seen Lassie's face!"

"Oh my gosh, it was hilarious and I probably would have laughed if I wasn't so embarrassed. And she just asked him to introduce us."

"Seriously? Man, the Chief would have ripped me a new one if she found me kissing Jules." Gus elbowed Shawn in the side while Beth tried to hide her grin.

"Anyways, she just acted like nothing happened and told Carlton to meet her in her office because he was late for a meeting. Then she just smiled and walked away."

"Aw, I am so ribbing him for this!" Shawn smiled mischievously.

Beth sat up straighter and stared at him wide-eyed. "Please don't! We're still trying to figure things out. We're going to talk tonight at dinner."

Shawn sighed and was about to protest when Gus elbowed him again. "Ow! Man would you stop that! I'm going to have so many bruises before the week is out! I already have quite a few from Saturday."

Ignoring Shawn, Gus asked, "Have you eaten lunch yet? Because we were thinking of getting some jerk chicken."

"No I haven't," Beth said as she laughed at Shawn. "I don't think I've ever had Jerk Chicken before."

Shawn gasped before pulling Beth out of the chair, "Then let's go girl! We must introduce you to the deliciousness that is Jerk Chicken."

Beth just giggled as Shawn dragged her out the door, Gus hurrying behind them.


	23. Chapter 23

_**CHAPTER 23**_

"Oh man, I don't think I can hang out with you guys anymore," Beth said a few hours later as she walked down the street with Shawn and Gus.

"What? Why not?" Shawn whined.

Beth laughed as she shook her half empty pineapple smoothie. "You guys eat so much. I mean seriously, I love food, but I don't even eat half as much as you guys do. I'm surprised that you guys are in such good shape."

"I think I should be offended. Gus?"

"Well, it could be either insult or compliment. I mean, she did say that we are in shape but she also insulted our eating habits." Gus shrugged as he took a sip from his own smoothie.

Shawn smiled at Beth and said, "Then I accept your compliment and will ignore the implied insult."

She patted his arm as she laughed. "Good. Honestly, I don't think that I can finish this." She moved to throw her cup out when Shawn grabbed her arm.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What are you doing? Don't waste the wonderful pineappley goodness! If you don't want it, I'll take it." Shawn threw out his empty cup and held out his hand.

Shaking her head, Beth handed over the smoothie. "Have at it. Look, I've got to get to the store and buy some produce for tonight. But I'll catch you guys tomorrow."

"Bye Beth!" Shawn said as he slurped the smoothie.

"Goodbye Beth." Gus said as he shook her hand.

Smiling, Beth waved as she made her way across the street to her car. Shawn glanced down the street and immediately dropped his cup before whispering, "Gus, call 911."

"What! Why? Shawn!" Gus yelled as Shawn started sprinting across the street.

"Call the cops, Gus! Beth! Get in the car!"

Beth turned around just in time to see Shawn pushing her into the opened door before diving in after her. He had barely gotten the door shut when another car smashed into the driver's door, knocking them further inside, before speeding off.

Glancing at the smashed door, Shawn turned to Beth who was under him. "Beth, are you okay?" She had her eyes closed and was starting to hyperventilate. "Beth?"

"Get off, get off, get off," Beth started chanting quietly.

"Beth, it's just me. It's Shawn." He reached forward to brush her hair but it only seemed to agitate her even more.

"Get off! Get off! Get off!" She was practically screaming.

Not knowing what else to do, Shawn crawled over into the backseat, almost landing on her guitar. As he rubbed his bruised arm, Gus tapped on the window. "Shawn! Are you guys okay?"

"I'm fine buddy, but I think you need to call Lassie. Beth is freaking out." Shawn leaned over the seats to see that Beth had sat up on the passenger seat clutching her knees. "Beth? Are you okay?"

He reached for her shoulder only for her to flinch away and yell, "Don't touch me!" before she started gasping.

Cursing, Shawn squeezed into the glass covered driver's seat and faced her. "Beth, listen to me. You're safe. I'm not going to hurt you, but if you don't calm down, you might hurt yourself."

Still having trouble breathing, she shook her head. "Please leave *gasp* me alone."

"I'm not going to do that. You need to breath," Hearing sirens, Shawn continued. "Look, the police are coming and probably an ambulance. They're going to want to talk to you, and likely examine you."

"No, I just *gasp* want to be *gasp* left alone!" She started crying then which was so not helping her breathing.

"Beth, can you look at me please?" Shawn almost begged. Ever so slowly, she turned her head toward him but didn't open her eyes. Sighing, he continued, "I'm not going to let anyone else hurt you and neither is Lassie once he gets here."

There was a knock at Beth's window which made her jump. Seeing that it was Buzz, Shawn waved him off. Buzz looked at him curiously before nodding and stepping back but still staying nearby. Thinking of Buzz as a guard dog, Shawn smiled before turning back to Beth, who was trying to take deep breaths.

"Beth, I know that you're still freaked out, but you need to calm down, okay? Just follow me. Deep breath in, then let it out." Shawn waited for her to copy him before continuing. "That's it, good. In and out, in and out."

By the time Beth's breathing had returned to normal, Shawn noticed that Carlton had arrived and was asking a nervous Buzz what was going on. After getting what he could, Carlton headed to the car and bent down, catching Shawn's eye.

Shawn nodded, before turning back to Beth who was still curled in a ball but was relatively calm. "Hey, guess what? I think you've got a visitor." Shawn smiled at her curious expression before nodding towards Carlton.

When she saw that it was Carlton, she smiled before starting to cry. Carlton slowly opened the door and knelt next to her. "Hey, are you okay?"

Beth just shook her head before uncurling enough to pull him into a hug. After a few seconds, she started babbling, "I'm sorry, I didn't see them coming and if it wasn't for Shawn I could have been killed! Then I freaked out when he was on top of me even though I knew that he was just trying to help. It just all happened so fast and I'm so scared and freaked out right now!"

"It's okay, you're fine now." Carlton muttered as he looked at Shawn.

Shawn just smiled before crawling back over the seats to get out of the car. He was immediately met by an upset Gus and a paramedic.

"Shawn! What the hell were you thinking? You could have gotten killed! I mean, I'm glad that you saved her and that you're both okay, but that was still a stupid thing to do!"

"Yes Gus, I'm fine, thank you for your concern." Shawn snapped as he shook them both off and sat on the ground against one of the patrol cars. Closing his eyes, Shawn took some deep breaths. A shadow fell over him and Shawn smiled when he recognized the hesitant footsteps. "Hey Nabby, what's up."

"Hey Shawn. Can I um. I need to take your statement." He said nervously.

Shawn nodded as he opened his eyes. "Sure thing." He looked over to see Carlton talking to Beth while a paramedic hovered nearby. "Gus and I hung out with Beth today and she left us to go grocery shopping. As she was crossing the street, I had a feeling that something bad was going to happen. When I looked down the street, I saw a car coming towards her sort of fast. I told Gus to call 911 as I sprinted across the street. I pushed her inside the car before getting in myself and slamming the door. The car smashed into the driver's side before speeding off. Then Beth freaked out and started having a panic attack."

Buzz nodded as he wrote things down. "And did you by any chance notice what type of car it was?"

"Yeah, um," Shawn closed his eyes and raised his hand to his temple. "It was a Ford Focus, probably 2005, blue. License plate starting with DJR4, I don't know the rest."

"Wow," Buzz said as he wrote. "That's more than Gus. He could only remember it being a dark compact car."

"Yeah. So can I go now?" Shawn asked as he stood up.

"Oh, yeah. I'm glad that you and Beth are okay."

"Thanks Buzz," Shawn said as he patted him on the shoulder and rejoined Beth and Carlton, who had moved onto the sidewalk a few yards away from her car. She had a blanket wrapped around her and was drinking from a bottle of water. "Hey Beth! I guess you should get the trunk looked at, now that it's going to be at the shop anyways."

Beth laughed shakily as she pulled the blanket closer. "Thanks Shawn, I'll be sure to tell the mechanic."

Carlton coughed before speaking. "I've um, I've got to get back to work but do you think that Beth can hang out with you, Spencer? Just until I can get back."

"Sure! I always have time for Beth." Shawn said enthusiastically.

Carlton nodded as he patted Beth's shoulder only to have her flinch. "I'll let you know when I get off work, okay?" Beth smiled before closing her eyes. Giving her one more concerned look, Carlton got up and made his way to his car.

Shawn bounced on his heels for a few seconds before saying, "So, are you ready to go? Because there's this one cart on the boardwalk that sells awesome churros!"

Beth laughed as she wiped her cheeks. "More food? I'm surprised that you ever get any work done."

"Hey, I'm a master at multi-tasking! Besides, Gus is usually there to help keep me on track."

"Oh, that explains it."

"Yep!"

She laughed as she stood up. "I still have to give my statement. Carlton said that McNab would do that?"

"Oh, okay. Hey Nabby!" Shawn waved Buzz over who was talking with some of the other officers.

"Yeah, Shawn?" Buzz hurried over.

"Apparently Beth still needs to give her statement."

"Okay."

"And is it okay if I grab some things out of her car before the tow truck gets here? I don't want them to get misplaced or something."

Buzz nodded as he took out his notepad. "Sure thing. I think CSU is done and the tow truck should be here any minute."

"Thanks man! I'm leaving Beth in your large, capable hands. I'll be right back." Shawn smiled as Beth nodded.

Seeing Gus still hanging around, Shawn headed over to him first. "Gus, buddy. I'm sorrr, soo, *cough* s-sorry I snapped at you. I know that you were just as freaked out as me and in a weird way, you were showing your concern."

Gus looked down before nodding. "Yeah, and I know you didn't mean it. What are best friends for if you can't vent to them."

"So we're cool?" Shawn smiled as he held out his fist.

"Yeah we're cool." Gus completed the fist bump.

"Great!" Shawn clapped his hands while doing a little jump. "Now, before you go get ready for your date, would you mind helping me take some of Beth's music stuff to the office?"

Gus glared at Shawn for a moment. "You just want me to carry the guitar, don't you?"

"Well, duh! You know how clumsy I can be! Plus it's kind of big and heavy and I think I hurt my arm."

"Whatever Shawn," Gus shook his head as he strolled for the car.

"Thanks buddy!"

* * *

><p>Carlton was getting frustrated. He had been working on a homicide all afternoon and hadn't found anything, not even who the murder victim was. Since it was a little before 7, Carlton was about to give up for the night when Buzz came over, looking very nervous.<p>

"Um, ex-excuse me, Detective Lassiter?"

"What is it McNab?"

Buzz cleared his throat as he held up a file. "I know that you aren't officially on either of the cases, but I thought you would like to know what we found."

"Just spit it out, McNab!" Carlton growled as he took the file out of Buzz's hand.

"Well, the car from this afternoon, the hit and run involving Shawn and Miss March? It appears to be connected to another case. The attack on Miss March last week."

Carlton's face paled as he flipped through the papers. "Crap. Are you sure?"

"Yes sir, I double and triple checked. It also appears that Mr. Jackson was released on bail about 2 hours before the incident."

"Why wasn't I notified of his release?" Carlton snapped angrily as he stood and grabbed his jacket.

"I don't know. I think the memo was placed on Juliet's desk, but she was out today." Buzz nervously trailed him to the door.

"I need you to put a BOLO out on Fred Jackson and his vehicle. I'm going to go check up on Beth and Spencer, make sure nothing happens."

Carlton stormed out the doors while Buzz stuttered, "Ye-yes sir."


	24. Chapter 24

_**CHAPTER 24**_

"No! NO! Stop it! It's not fair!" Shawn yelled as he tried to catch up to Beth.

"Eat my dust, Shawnie boy!" Beth laughed as she crossed the finish line first. "Yes! Victory!"

Shawn tossed his Wii remote on the table. "How the hell did you beat me 4 times in a row? Nobody beats me!"

"I've been playing Mario Kart since it first came out almost 20 years ago and it has always been my favorite game. None of my siblings can beat me, except on Rainbow road because I almost never use the breaks and would fall off at least once a race."

"Ah-ha! A weakness! That means we should play that level now." Shawn said as he picked his controller back up.

"Shawn! We've been playing video games for the last 2 hours. Can't we just relax or something?"

"What? Come on! Gus is the only other person who will play with me and he's not even half the challenge that you are." Shawn whined.

Beth was about to give in when there was a knock at the door. Looking at each other, Shawn asked, "Who would knock? Most of the time people just walk in."

"I don't know, it's your office. Do you want me to set up the next round?"

"Nah, if it's a client, I don't want them to be distracted by the music. Might as well turn it off." Shawn got up and went to the door.

"Alright," Beth laughed as she turned the console off.

She was getting another soda when she heard a crack followed by something heavy hitting the floor. Freezing, Beth heard her cell phone ringing while footsteps came closer to the room.

"Hey Bethie," Fred smiled creepily as he stood in the doorway.

Trying to keep some distance, Beth moved behind Gus's desk. "Fred. What, what are you doing here? I thought you were in jail."

"I was, until my brother paid my bail this afternoon."

"Kevin is here?" Beth looked nervously towards the door and could just make out the top of Shawn's head on the floor.

"Well, he's back at the hotel room, but he is in Santa Barbara." Fred walked over and stopped on the other side of the desk.

Gripping the back of the chair, Beth asked, "What do you want?"

"I want what's mine."

"No. I'm not yours, you don't own me."

"Says who?" Fred lazily touched some of the pens and pencils on the desk. "The bible says that women are property and should be owned by a man. I've waited my time, I think I've earned you."

"I'm not a prize to be won!" Beth growled as her phone rang again.

"So you're saying that you don't believe what the bible tells you? I thought that you were a devote Christian?"

"I am but times have changed and I'm not getting into this discussion with you! You need to leave now before I call the cops."

"Why?" Fred chuckled as he started moving around the desk. "I haven't done anything wrong."

"I'm pretty sure there's some law that prevents you from visiting the victim while you're awaiting trail. Besides, what about attacking Shawn? That's assault and will be added to your charges."

Fred shrugged as he got closer. "He fell."

Not knowing what else to do, Beth ran for the front door but barely got halfway across the room before Fred grabbed her around the waist.

"No! Let go of me you bastard!" Beth kicked as Fred trapped her arms.

"Oh, such language from such a pretty girl. Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

"I don't kiss my parents. Don't even hug them."

"How about your boyfriend?" Beth froze as Fred took out a knife and held it at her throat. "That's a silly question, because Kevin saw you kissing that detective today, right in front of the police station. I always knew you were a little slut."

Fred quickly snapped cuffs on her hands as he licked her neck. "Hmm, I love your taste. Tell me, what does the detective taste like? I bet he tastes bitter and old."

"He taste a hell of a lot better than you." Beth growled.

Fred pulled her back by the cuffs and kissed her rough, even biting her lips. Instead of fighting it, Beth relaxed and collapsed on the floor, making Fred fall as well, hitting his head. She groaned as she felt the knife cut across her collarbone but quickly roll away and got up. Seeing that Fred wasn't moving, she made her way over to Shawn and tried to shake him with her foot.

"Shawn! Shawn come on, time to get up."

Shawn moaned and mumbled, "5 more minutes, mom."

"No, Shawn now! You have to get up now!" She whispered desperately.

"Okay, okay." Shawn moved his hand to his forehead where he was hit. "What happened?"

"Fred showed up and knocked you out. Now we've got to go before he wakes up! Shawn come mmmm!" Beth tried to scream as Fred placed a hand over her mouth and started dragging her to the door.

"Sorry Shawnie-boy, but this is my girl and we are long over due for some action, if you know what I mean." He laughed as he released Beth's mouth to open the door.

"NO! Shawn help!" Beth tried to fight him off.

"Let her go," Shawn groaned as he tried to stand up. "Take me instead."

"No thanks, I don't swing that way. But nice try." Fred laughed as he push Beth out the door in front of him. She was quickly pulled out of his reach and a gun appeared at Fred's temple.

"Freeze!" Carlton growled as he got between Fred and Beth. "SBPD. You are under arrest."

"You again? God, you're such a party popper!" Fred groaned as he moved to grab Beth, only to get hit on the back of the head by a mini bat. He swayed for a moment before falling to the ground, revealing a bleeding Shawn leaning in the doorway.

"I think, I'm gonna pass out again," Shawn mumbled before sliding down the wall.

Carlton reached forward and slowed his descent. He quickly cuffed Fred before turning to Beth, who was sitting on a bench a few feet away, her knees up with her hands still behind her back. Taking out his phone, he quickly called for backup before dragging Fred to his car.

Once Fred was locked in, Carlton joined Beth on the bench. "Hey, can I unlock you?" Beth nodded her head but didn't look at him, turning around enough to give him access.

Once he was done, he put his hand on her shoulder, only to have her hiss and flinch away. Looking at his hand, he saw that there was blood on it. "Did he hurt you?" She nodded. Figuring that he wouldn't get much more of an answer, Carlton pulled down her blouse slightly and looked at the cut. "It doesn't look too deep, shouldn't need any stitches, but we still need to get it looked at, okay?"

She nodded again. Sighing, Carlton took his jacket off and covered her. "I'll be right back, I'm just going to check on Spencer, okay?" Getting another nod, he went back to Shawn, who seemed to only have a slight cut on his forehead. "What is with this psycho and hitting Spencers on the forehead."

"Just unlucky, I guess." Shawn breathed before moaning. "Can you please not talk so loud, I've got a major headache." Hearing the sirens in the distance, he whined, "Lassie! Make them stop!"

"Sorry, not my problem," Carlton whispered as he moved away.

"Meanie," Shawn mumbled as he held his head.

Laughing slightly, Carlton knelt in front of Beth who was now staring out at the ocean. "Hey, are you still with me?" Beth nodded. "Can you say anything because I'm getting a bit tired of nods."

Beth smiled slightly as she looked as him, "Sorry, I'm just thinking."

"What about?"

"A lot of things." Beth shook her head, "How this time last year, I was wondering if Fred was ever going to propose and now I don't ever want to see him again. How I've got my very own white knight and I don't know if it'll be anything more than friendship. Part of me wants us to stay friends but another part thinks that we should take the next step."

"I don't want to hurt you," Carlton confessed as he heard a couple patrol cars pull up.

She smiled as she touched his cheek, "Who said that you will?"

They smiled at each other until a set of footsteps made Carlton stand up. "I need someone to escort the perp that's in my car to the station. He's currently out on bail and will need assault, attempted kidnapping and resisting arrest added to his charges. We also suspect that he was the culprit in the hit and run from this afternoon. We need paramedics over here as well as one to check up on Spencer. Got it?"

"Yes sir!" The officer replied before running off.

Beth was laughing when he turned back to her. "What?"

"Nothing," she smiled. "You're just very sexy when you're giving orders."

Carlton groaned before walking around and saying, "Scoot over." Beth smiled as she obeyed and he sat down, putting an arm around her when she leaned into him.

"Do I have to go to the hospital?" Beth asked softly.

"I don't know, let's see what the paramedics have to say."

After about five minutes, a paramedic finally joined them. "About time, what if this was an emergency?" Carlton growled as he made Beth sit up.

"I'm sorry detective, but there was a major accident on the highway and all other units were called to it. Since I wasn't told that it was urgent, I went to treat Mr. Spencer first, who found the need to flirt with me as I was examining him." She snapped back as she put her gloves on.

"Please ignore him, he's had a really rough week, mainly involving coming to my rescue, so he's a bit burnt out." Beth laughed at Carlton's growl. "He thinks he's part guard dog."

Carlton groaned as the paramedic laughed. "Oh, sweet justice, you did not just say that! I swear, no more time with Spencer, he's a bad influence."

"Oh, no he's not! Now, if I start calling you Lassie or various forms of that, then you know that I've spent too much time with him." Beth flinched as the medic pulled back her blouse and started cleaning the cut.

Carlton quietly fumed as the paramedic worked on Beth. When she was done, she applied a bandage and stood up. "You're lucky the cut wasn't any deeper. I suggest that you get a tetanus shot if you haven't gotten one recently, and watch out for infection."

"So, no hospital?" Beth asked hopefully.

The paramedic smiled as she picked up her bag. "Nope. But I'm afraid Mr. Spencer is going so that they can rule out a concussion."

"Okay, thanks. Can you let him know that I'll see him tomorrow?"

"Sure. Good night." The medic smiled as she walked over to her rig.

Beth sighed as she leaned against Carlton again. "Can we leave yet?"

Carlton looked over his shoulder and saw that there were still a few officers around. "I have to go to the station and make sure that all the proper paperwork is filed and you still need to give your statement."

Beth groaned as she pulled his jacket tighter around herself. "I'm tired of people taking my statement. Can't you also charge Fred with mental abuse or something?"

Carlton laughed as he stood up. "I can try but I don't think it'll hold."

"Oh well. Should we go then?"

"You want to go to the station with me?"

"Yeah, well, I really don't want to be by myself right now. Shawn, Henry and probably Gus will be at the hospital for the next couple hours."

"Okay," He offered a hand up. "Do you need anything from their office?"

Beth shivered as she nodded, "Yeah. My guitar can probably stay but I'll need my purse. Can you get it?"

"Sure." Carlton rubbed her arm before going inside.


	25. Chapter 25

_**CHAPTER 25**_

It was nearing 11 by the time Carlton could finally leave the station and Beth had fallen asleep at Henry's desk a couple hours ago. Since there was quite a bit of blood on her blouse, she borrowed one of Carlton's shirts which was really big on her.

Making sure that he had everything packed, Carlton knelt in front of Beth and rubbed her knee. "Hey Sleeping Beauty, time to wake up." She just moaned and shifted away. "Come on, it's time to go so you can sleep in a real bed."

"What if I want to sleep in your bed?" Beth asked sleepily as she opened her eyes.

Carlton glanced around the deserted bullpen before whispering, "Why do you keep trying to embarrass me?"

"Because it's fun!" She smirked

"Besides, I thought you were one of those people who um, wait until marriage."

"There's nothing wrong with going to second base. Possibly even third, but I've never tried it." He choked as Beth grinned. "I knew this conversation would make you uncomfortable."

"But not you?" He stood up and went to grab his briefcase.

"Nope, not since sex camp at church when I was in 12th grade." Beth yawned.

Carlton almost tripped over his chair. "What? You had a sex camp at church?"

"Well, technically it was a relationship retreat, respecting ourselves, respecting others. But most of us called it sex camp."

Carlton shook his head as he headed to the door. "You're impossible."

"Thank you!" Beth laughed as she walked next to him and put her arm around his. "Are you sure we can't cuddle?"

Carlton shook his head as he opened the door. "No, I just want to go home and sleep."

"Can we stop for something to eat first? I never ate dinner. The last thing I ate was a churro over 6 hours ago."

"Yeah, we can get some food." Carlton shook his head. "I just don't get you. One minute you're almost depressed and then the next you're cracking jokes, making me uncomfortable."

"I've found that when things go wrong, you can either laugh or cry. There are too many tears shed already, so when I can, I choose to laugh."

"Is this another one of your philosophies?" he asked as he unlocked his car.

"Yep. One of my favorites."

Carlton smiled as she kissed him on the cheek before getting in the car.

* * *

><p>Carlton frowned as he looked at the clock, noting that it was 4 am and he had only been sleeping for a little over 3 hours. He laid still, trying to figure out what had woken him. He was just about to fall back asleep when he heard whimpering.<p>

Getting up in a flash, he threw a shirt over his sweatpants as he grabbed his pistol and made his way to Beth's room. Opening the door slowly, he quickly surveyed the room. At first glance, he didn't see Beth anywhere until he heard sobbing from behind him. Turning quickly, he found her with her arms over her head, sitting between the dresser and the wall.

Placing his pistol on the side table, he cautiously knelt in front of her. "Beth?"

"No! Leave me alone!" Beth pleaded through her tears.

"Beth, I'm not going to hurt you." He gently touched her knee, which turned out to be the wrong thing since she lashed out and started beating his chest.

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM FRED! YOU DON'T OWN ME!"

Carlton quickly pulled her into a tight hug despite her struggles and started talking calmly in her ear. "Beth, it's Carlton and I'm not going to hurt you. I'll never hurt. Please, calm down."

Beth finally relaxed against him and started sobbing harder. Carlton just held her tighter as she let it out.

"It's not fair, I didn't do anything wrong! All I did was love him. Why did he hurt me? Why, why didn't I see it sooner? He just used me and I knew he was up to no good. I'm just so stupid."

"Hey, you're not stupid." Carlton said as he rubbed her back. "You're one of the smartest, funniest, prettiest people that I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. You took a chance and it didn't work out, but that doesn't make you stupid. You trusted him and he broke that trust. It's not your fault."

Beth nodded as she clung to him tighter. They sat like that for almost 10 minutes before Beth's breathing evened out and she started feeling heavier. Readjusting his hold, Carlton carefully lifted her up and laid her on the bed. Before he could pull the covers up, she grabbed his hand.

"Can you stay, please?" Beth whispered.

Carlton shook his head. "I really shouldn't."

"Please, I don't want to be alone right now. Can you just stay until I fall asleep?"

She looked so scared and vulnerable as she tried to keep the tears at bay. Sighing, Carlton nodded before going to the other side of the bed. He laid on his back as Beth put her head over his heart and both arms clutched his shirt. Feeling her tremble, he wrapped an arm around her back before pulling the blanket to his waist.

"Thanks Carlton." Beth whispered as she closed her eyes.

He smiled as he took her hand and gave it a squeezed. Within minutes, she was fast asleep with Carlton just watching. Eventually the quiet got to him, and he soon followed her into dreamland.

* * *

><p>Hearing his alarm beeping, Carlton reached a hand over to slap it, only to find his gun. Slightly confused, he opened his eyes to realize that he was alone in the guest bedroom. Groaning, he rolled out of bed and went to turn his alarm off. While he was in his bedroom, he also grabbed his robe and slippers before heading to the kitchen.<p>

The house was eerily quiet and it disturbed him for some reason. Licking his lips, Carlton called out, "Beth?" Finding the kitchen empty, he was about to check the bathroom when he noticed that that the drapes on the sliding door were opened. Looking out, he saw Beth facing the sunrise.

He was just turning around to go start his coffee when he saw a glint of light. Acting on instinct, Carlton quickly opened the door and hurried to Beth's side. Seeing the knife slowly drawing blood, he cautiously placed a hand over Beth's, stilling her movements. When he looked at her face, she had her eyes closed with tears silently falling. It also looked like that she had chopped off half of her hair.

"Beth. Can I have the knife?"

He waited patiently but the only response he got was Beth loosening her grip. Taking that as a good sign, he quickly tossed the knife out of reach before taking off both his shirt and robe. Tearing the shirt, he tightly wrapped her wrist before draping the robe over her shoulders.

Kneeling in front of her, Carlton brushed his fingers through her uneven hair. "Beth? Can you talk to me?"

Without opening her eyes, she fingered the shirt around her wrist. "I just wanted to feel something physical."

"So it wasn't," Carlton took a deep breath. "It wasn't suicide?"

"No. When I'm feeling really overwhelmed, I cut my hair. But it wasn't enough this time, so I grabbed the knife." A few more tears slipped from her still closed eyes.

"Why didn't you come to me?" He moved his hand to her cheek and she turned into it.

"I wasn't really thinking. I'm use to suffering in silence, hiding behind this weird façade where it seems like I'm okay."

"Please come to me next time. I don't care what time of day or what I'm doing, I'll always be available."

A choked sob escaped as she nodded and finally opened her eyes. "Okay."

"I'm serious. I'll walk out of a meeting with the mayor or leave a crime scene to come to you, okay?"

Laughing shakily, she whispered, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"Hey," he pulled her into a hug. "I'm head detective, I don't scare easily."

Beth laughed again as she clung to him. "I'll keep that in mind."

When they finally pulled back, Carlton ran his fingers through her hair again. "I think we need to fix this, it looks horrible."

Beth nodded as she wiped her face. "Yeah, well I find if I try too hard to make it even, that it just looks worse."

"Do you always cut your own hair?"

"Yeah. Unless I'm not satisfied then I'll go to a salon." She pulled at some of the strands. "I might need help this time, I don't know."

"Okay." Shivering slightly, Carlton stood up. "Do you think we can go inside now? I'm cold."

Beth smiled as she stood up as well. Before Carlton could start for the door, she placed a hand on his chest, causing him to shiver even more. She started trailing her hand up and down. When she got close to his pants, he stopped her.

"We, um, we need to go inside. Probably eat some breakfast."

She nodded before dropping her hand and heading for the door, Carlton following her. Making her sit, he went about making her a bowl of cereal and a cup of juice. While she started eating, he turned on the coffeemaker and got out the first aid kit to work on her arm.

"I don't want to leave you alone today."

Beth sighed and put her spoon down. "But I told you that it wasn't a suicide attempt. I was just stressed and I guess it was a way to let go of some of it."

Taping the gauze down, he squeezed her hand. "Please. It'll make me feel better."

"Okay." She whispered.

"Thank you." He brushed her hair again. "Now, what are we doing about your hair?"

Sighing, Beth stood up. "I'll fix it. It shouldn't take me too long."

"Okay." Carlton watched her walked down the hall before he grabbed a cup of coffee, deciding that he needed to take a quick shower.


	26. Chapter 26

_**CHAPTER 26**_

A half hour later, they were in Carlton's car, making their way silently to the station. Beth was absent-mindedly playing with her hair as she stared out at the dark clouds overhead. She ended up with it about chin length in messy layers and subtle bangs that she swept aside. A few times she sniffled and wiped at her cheeks with her long sleeves and Carlton would reach a hand over and rub her arm.

When they reached the station, Beth finally faced him. "I'm sorry for being such a burden, but I'm not sorry that I've met you. You are a really great guy, especially when you loosen up a bit."

Carlton took a couple seconds to think while he parked the car before replying, "Well um, thanks and you're not really that much of a burden. Plus, it's nice to be needed." He looked away as he killed the engine.

"Awww, are you going soft on me Carly?" She asked as ruffled his hair.

"No!" He swatted her hand away before grumbling, "Stop calling me Carly, I'm not a girl."

"Okay, okay! So, what's the plan for today? Obviously I can't hang out with you while you're working, but you don't want me to be by myself."

"Well, Henry is suppose to stop in today, so I thought that you could go with him."

"Okay." She muttered as she got out of the car.

Quickly getting out and joining her, Carlton asked, "What? No comment about not needing a babysitter?"

Beth sighed as she stopped and crossed her arms. "I get it, you're worried about me and you have every right to be. While I hate the thought of having a babysitter, I also don't want to be alone right now."

"Hey," Carlton stepped forward and put his hands on her shoulders. "You're safe now. Fred is in custody and I'm going to make sure of that until the trail is over. I promise."

Beth smiled as she looked at him. "And you don't break promises easily."

"Exactly." He pulled her into a hug, ignoring the looks his fellow officers were giving him. Before they could pull apart, the skies opened up and they started to get soaked. "Crap!" He exclaimed as he threw his briefcase over his head.

Beth laughed as she pulled his arm down. "What's the matter, Carlton? Afraid of a little rain?"

"This isn't a little rain! It's a down pour!" He yelled as he took her hand and ran into the station. Beth was still laughing as they slipped across the floor. Marching to the front desk, he said, "Stay here and fill out a visitor's badge while I go get some towels or something."

"Yes sir!" Beth gave him a mock salute as she continued to laugh.

Growling, Carlton made his way to the locker rooms where he at least had a dry shirt. His pants weren't too bad since the rain came straight down but his shirt and jacket were soaked. Remembering at the last minute that Beth had borrowed one of his shirts the night before, he grabbed a pair of SBPD sweats that he assumed would fit her.

When he returned 5 minutes later, he found Beth shivering slightly near his desk as she talked to Juliet. She was trying unsuccessfully to drink some coffee. Hiding his smirk, Carlton joined them. "How's the coffee?"

"Horrible," Beth smiled as she clutched the mug. "But at least it's warm. Are those for me?"

Nodding, he handed over the sweats and a towel. "Yeah. They'll probably be a little big but I didn't think that you'd mind. O'Hara, can you show her where the ladies' locker room is?"

"Sure thing Carlton," Handing the mug to Carlton, Juliet led Beth down the hall.

Watching them go, Carlton took a sip of the coffee only to immediately spit it out. It had at least twice as much sugar than he usually took. Setting it on his desk, he went to make his own, less sweetened cup.

* * *

><p>Juliet and Beth came back while Carlton was hanging up with Henry. Between her hair plastered to her head and the baggy clothes, she look like a teenage boy. Keeping the comment to himself, he took another sip of his coffee. "Feeling better?"<p>

"Slightly," Beth smiled as she sat at Henry's desk. "I'm glad that I cut my hair or it would take a lot longer to dry." She took the towel that she was carrying and started drying her hair.

"You cut your own hair?" Juliet asked as she looked between the two of them.

Beth blushed as she pulled the sleeve over her bandaged wrist. "Yeah, this morning. I was frustrated with it and cut a bit more than I wanted to, but I was able to fix it."

Sharing a look with Carlton, Juliet smiled as she looked at Beth's hair. "Well I think it looks great! Hey Carlton, I need to update you on the case from yesterday."

"Sure." Getting up, he said to Beth, "I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere."

"Please, I learned my lesson last time." She smirked as she continued to dry her hair.

Following Juliet to the conference room, where some files were spread out, he prepared himself for what he knew she wanted to know.

Keeping the door open, Juliet whispered, "What happened to her wrist? There wasn't anything in the report about it being bandaged last night."

Sighing, Carlton glanced at Beth before sitting down. "I found her this morning with a knife to her wrist."

Juliet gasped as she sat down next him. "Oh my god! Was she attempting suicide?"

"No, at least that's what she told me." Feeling a headache coming on, he rubbed his forehead. "She said that when she's overwhelmed, she cuts her hair, but it wasn't enough this time, so she grabbed the knife, that it was just a way to feel something physical. I have to tell you, it scared the crap out of me. For a moment there, I thought she was going to kill herself and the only reason that I even found her in time was because my alarm clock woke me up."

Carlton leaned back in his chair as he watched Beth fingering her bandage. When she noticed that he was watching, she gave a slight wave and Carlton smiled back.

"Is that why you brought her in today? To watch her? Because I'm not sure how Vick will feel, especially if we get called to a crime scene." Juliet said as she absent-mindedly shuffled files.

"No, Henry said that he'll keep her occupied after he checks in." Leaning forward, Carlton looked at the files. "That bastard should be glad that Spencer hit him with a bat, because I was so close to shooting his brains out."

Juliet laughed as she rubbed his arm. "And I would have backed you up. That jerk deserves to rot in jail."

Carlton chuckled as he looked back at Beth, who was nervously looking around the bullpen.

* * *

><p>After an hour of searching through everything, they were still coming up empty. The lab guys were finally able to identify the victim, but he was an average Joe that didn't have any close friends or family. He was last seen about a week ago, but no one noticed since he had requested 4 days off and had plenty of overtime acquired.<p>

Knowing that Juliet wanted to call Shawn in, Carlton sighed as he went to tell Henry, since it was Henry's decision whether or not Shawn got on any cases. As he left the conference room, he paused as he noticed two things: Beth was asleep at Henry's desk and Henry had commandeered his desk. Sighing, he shook his head as he continued walking. "Henry." Carlton politely greeted.

Putting down a file, Henry leaned back in his chair. "Carlton. Is there anything that I can help you with?"

Resisting the urge to point out the oblivious, he replied, "Yes, actually. We're stuck on a case and O'Hara would like to call your son in."

"Okay, I'll take a look." Carlton moved aside as Henry got up and made his way to the conference room.

Shaking his head, Carlton grabbed his coffee mug and refilled it. Before going back into the conference room, he glanced at Beth and stopped. She was restless, apparently having a nightmare. Deciding to wake her before she drew too much attention, Carlton walked back over, placing his mug on his desk before kneeling next to her. Glancing around the nearly empty bullpen, he gently shook her shoulder. "Beth? Beth you need to wake up."

She whimpered as she tried to shrug his hand off. Sighing, he tried again. "Beth, it's alright. You're safe now, you just have to wake up."

Jerking awake, Beth stared wide-eyed at him for a second before sighing. "Sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"That's okay. How much sleep did you get last night?"

"I don't know." She shrugged as she started fiddling with her bandage. "Less than you. I think I woke up about an hour before you found me."

Nodding, Carlton stood up. "We're calling Spencer in for one of my cases, so it might be another hour or so until you can leave."

Beth sighed as she leaned back in the chair. Something behind Carlton caught her attention and she quickly turned the chair around and tried to hide in it. Slightly perplexed, he was about to ask what was wrong, when an irritated voice spoke up behind him.

"Excuse me! But can you tell me who the hell O'Hara is?"

Turning around, Carlton glared at the person as he looked him over. He was 6'1" and slightly overweight with black hair and brown eyes. He looked to be in his late 30's and was wearing jeans, t-shirt and a rain jacket.

Crossing his arms, Carlton glanced at the sheepish desk clerk who was hovering nearby before replying, "Who wants to know?"

Glaring back, the man answered curtly, "Kevin Jackson. My brother Fred Jackson was released on bail yesterday but was arrested last night and I want to know why! I was told to see some officer O'Hara. Now where is he?"

Taking a step forward, Carlton growled, "DETECTIVE O'Hara is busy at the moment. As HER partner, I will have to ask you to go back to the front desk and she will be with you when she's ready!"

"Oh really? Then who's this?" Kevin quickly moved around him and turned the chair around. "Beth?"

Beth smiled sheepishly as she put her feet on the floor. "Hey Kevin."

"What the hell happened to you? Why do you look beat up? And what are you doing out here anyways?"

"Well, I'm moving out here." Beth answered quietly as she glanced at Carlton for help.

Grabbing Kevin's shoulder, Carlton moved him back a few steps. "I don't think that she wants to talk to you right now."

"Why? I haven't done anything wrong. And why do you care?" Kevin looked him over again before something dawned on him. "Oh! You're the guy that I saw Beth kissing yesterday! You know, Fred was really mad when I told him about that." Beth flinched when he said Fred's name but only Carlton saw it.

Looking between Kevin and Beth, Carlton asked, "Is that why he come after you last night? Because he heard that we kissed?"

"Whoa! What do you mean 'came after her'? Beth, what the hell's going on? Fred called me up Friday saying that he was arrested for some crazy charges that he was innocent of. And when I finally got here yesterday, and pay this outrageous bail, he gets arrested again. Somebody better fill me in right this damn minute!"

"Innocent?" Carlton growled as he grabbed Kevin by the arm and shoved him against the wall, not realizing that they had attracted quite an audience. "Your dear brother has attacked Beth several times over the last week! I won't go into all the details, but just yesterday, after you so kindly paid his bail, he tried to run her over with his car and then hours later, kidnap her. So no. I don't think your brother is innocent." Carlton spat as he released Kevin.

Stunned, Kevin looked at Beth who was staring at the floor. "Beth? Is this true? Has Fred been hurting you?"

Beth nodded, "Yes. It's why I left back in June."

"Oh, Beth, I'm so sorry." He made to take a step towards her, only to have Carlton block his path.

"If you would like to know any more details, I suggest that you talk to your brother's legal representation. I'm sure Detective O'Hara would be more than happy to give you that information." Carlton growled as he nodded towards Juliet who was a few feet away. He saw her go to her desk before coming over and silently hand Kevin a business card.

Kevin stared at Beth for a few more seconds before whispering, "I'm sorry," and turned to leave.

Carlton watched him until he was out of sight. Before he could say anything else, Chief Vick appeared and yelled, "Get back to work everybody! There is still work to be done."

As the crowd dispersed, Carlton turned back to Beth, who staring at the floor and trying to hide in the chair. Noticing that Juliet and Henry had disappeared as well, Carlton walked over and gave her a hug. "I'm sorry about that."

Beth laughed as she wrapped her arms around him. "It's not your fault. It figures that Fred wouldn't tell him everything. He was always hiding things from Kevin. I'm just a little sorry that he had to find out this way, especially with you going all super cop on him."

Pulling back, Carlton groaned, "I'm surprised that no one tried to stop me. I mean, they all know that I have a temper and he was just an innocent family member, looking for information on his brother."

"Well, he definitely got the message." Beth smiled as she brushed back her hair. "Do I really look that bad?"

Carlton looked at her for a moment before saying, "Yeah, sorry. Ow!" He rubbed his arm which just got hit by her brace.

"You're suppose to say 'no, of course not. You look fine.' Jeez! Don't you know anything?" Beth smirked to take out some of the sting.

"I'm sorry. I thought you wanted the truth?"

She laughed as she leaned back. "Most of the time yes, but when I'm feeling upset, you're suppose to cheer me up, not make me feel worse."

"Okay! I'll keep that in mind for next time." He rubbed his forehead. "You're giving me a headache and I need to get back to work." Pointing a finger at her, he said. "Don't wonder off!"

She gave him another mock salute. "Yes captain, sweet captain."

"That's not the line," Carlton gave her a pointed look as she just smiled.

"I know. Now get back to work saving lives!" She shooed him off.

Shaking his head, he grabbed his cooling coffee and went back to the conference room.


	27. Chapter 27

_**CHAPTER 27**_

A few hours later found Beth sitting in Henry's kitchen, watching the rain hit the window while Henry made sandwiches. She was back in her dry jeans and long sleeved shirt. As Henry set a plate in front of her, Beth finally spoke.

"Can I ask for your opinion on something?"

"Sure," He replied as he took a sip of his lemonade.

She added ketchup to her sandwich before looking at him. "Do you think I should tell my family what happened?"

"Do you think they need to know?"

"Not really but there's no way this is going to be kept quiet since Fred is most likely going to jail and Kevin probably knows everything by now." She shook her head as she took a bite of her sandwich.

"Well," Henry started as he drummed his fingers on the table. "Do you want them to have all the facts or someone else's skewed opinion?"

"I honestly don't care, they won't treat me the same afterwards either way. They'll make their own conclusions." Beth sniffled as she looked away.

"They might appreciate it more if you tell them yourself."

Beth laughed, "It's not exactly something that I can say in an email or over the phone. Not like I've had a good relationship with my parents or most of my siblings. I don't even know where to start."

They sat in silence for a few minutes as they ate their food. When they were mostly done, Henry spoke up. "Why don't you tell one person who will be on your side when everything hits the fan."

"Yeah. Maybe I'll fill Amy in. She always seemed to be on my side."

"That's a good start." Henry picked up his glass.

Beth smiled, "Thanks, Henry."

"No problem sweetie."

"Do you mind if I make that call now? I want to do it before I lose my nerve."

"Sure. I'll be in here when you're done."

Beth smiled as she stood up and headed to the porch.

* * *

><p>After about a half hour, Henry went out to check up on Beth. He found her quietly crying on the love seat. Sitting next to her, he put a hand on her back. "Are you okay?"<p>

Wiping her face, Beth nodded. "Yeah. I feel a lot better now. I wish I had told Amy sooner. She was so supportive and said that she would have kicked the crap out of Fred last summer if I had told her. He should be glad that he's in police custody because she could kill him right now." Laughing, she turned to Henry with a smile. "She's always been protective of me, even though she's younger. I was the shy kid, hiding in the crowd or tagging along with one of my siblings, usually Amy."

"Sounds like a nice relationship."

"Yeah. Sometimes it annoyed me when people would group all of us together, but as I got older, I didn't mind so much. And then after high school, when I felt like I was drifting apart from all my friends and family, I could always count on Amy to pull me back in, whether it was inviting me to hangout or listening to my random stories that I never seemed to tell right. Between her, Susie and my faith in God, I don't know where I would be right now, except maybe 6 feet under." Beth sniffled again as she looked towards the ocean.

Rubbing her back, Henry commented, "Well, if that's the case, then I should thank them since they're the reason that I got to know you."

Beth smiled as they fell into silence again.

After a few minutes, Henry asked, "Now, is it my turn to ask you something serious?"

She laughed as she turned to him. "Sure."

"I want the truth and I can tell if you're lying." Seeing her nod, he asked, "Have you, at any point in the last two weeks, considered suicide?"

Quickly turning towards the ocean, she went still.

"Beth? Please, I just want to help and this will stay between us."

Closing her eyes as a tear slipped down her cheek, Beth nodded.

Continuing to rub her back, Henry asked, "When?"

Taking a deep breath, she choked out, "Last um, last Thursday after what ha-happened here and then a-again this morning." She sniffled as she brushed her cheeks.

"And what changed your mind?"

"C-Carlton. The first time, we were on the beach and I asked him what he thought of suicide." She laughed as she faced him. "He says that it affects everyone around you and sometimes people can't get over that guilt."

Henry nodded. "And this morning?"

"It started out as a way to feel something, the knife to my skin. But as I was cutting, I thought, 'What if I make it deeper, then I don't have to feel anything ever again.' And a second later Carlton shows up and I could hear the panic in his voice." Taking a deep breath, she smiled, "Then he made me a promise, that he'll always come to me if I need him, even if it means his job."

Henry nodded as he brushed away some of her tears. "That's a big step for Carlton, it's always been the job first for him and unfortunately me too."

Smiling, she said, "I made a promise to myself that I will try not to scare him like that again, no matter how overwhelmed I am."

"You can always come to me as well. I'm usually not a sharing emotions type of guy, but I'm a great listener and problem solver."

"Thanks, that means a lot to me." Sighing, she leaned back in her seat. "So, what can we do this fine, rainy day?"

"Well, how are you at chess?"

"I can hold my own but I hardly ever win."

"Okay then," Henry slapped her knee as he stood up. "We won't put you up against Shawn if he stops by."

Smiling, Beth took his proffered hand. "You should have seen him last night when we were playing Mario Kart, I was beating his ass so badly."

"I wished I could have seen that," Henry laughed as he led the way inside. "He can be such a sore loser."

"Ain't that da truth."

* * *

><p>When Carlton showed up a little before 7, the rain had finally stopped but left puddles everywhere. Carefully avoiding a few, he made his way up to the porch where Henry and Beth were playing chess. "So, who's winning?" He asked as he leaned against the house.<p>

Beth smiled as she glanced at him. "Right now, I am, but he's won twice as many games as me."

"How long have you guys been playing?"

"I don't know," Henry replied as studied the board. "About 10 games since lunch."

"Long enough that I've named each of my pieces and given most of them general life stories." She said as Henry captured one of her bishops.

Rubbing his face, Carlton yawned, "Do I even want to know?"

"Not really. Checkmate!" Beth grinned as she moved her queen forward. "That makes it 4-6."

Shaking his head, Henry turned to Carlton. "So, have you eaten yet?"

"No, I was going to stop for something on the way home."

"Nonsense. Beth made a wonderful Spaghetti and Meatball casserole and there's plenty left." Henry stood up and made his way into the kitchen as Beth packed up the board.

"So, I'm guessing you had a good time." Carlton said around a yawn as he sat on the love seat.

"Yep. After we got some things out of the way, we had a wonderful afternoon of chess while watching the rain come down." Setting the board aside, Beth took the seat next to him. They were quiet for a few minutes until she said, "I called Amy and told her everything that's happened."

"Everything?" Carlton asked hesitantly.

Laughing, she laid her head on his shoulder. "Well no, not everything. I did mention you, how you were helping me out, but I told her all about Fred. She was a little mad that she was kept out of the loop, but she understands. She's about ready to fly out here and kick his ass, but I told her that it's already been taken care of."

"That's nice of her."

"Yeah. I should have trusted her from the beginning and maybe Fred wouldn't have found out where I was since she was the one who told Bobby who told Fred."

"Everyone makes mistakes."

"Yeah." She whispered as Henry came back out carrying a casserole dish and bag of garlic bread.

"I think I can trust you guys to bring back my dish washed, unlike my son."

Laughing, Beth took it from him. "Did you keep any for yourself?"

"Of course. Are you going fishing with me tomorrow?"

"Yep. Carlton?" Beth turned to him expectantly

"What?" He looked between the two of them.

Sighing, she asked, "Did you want to come fishing with us tomorrow?"

"Oh, sorry I can't. We finally caught a break on our case that may or may not have anything to do with Spencer." He grumbled.

"Okay, but can you give me a ride? My car is still in the shop."

"Sure," Carlton stood up.

"Good, I'll see you both at 5am. Good night sweetie," Henry gave her a half hug since she still had the casserole dish.

"Night Henry." Pulling back, she gestured at Carlton, "Lead on Detective."

Grumbling, Carlton headed down the steps as Beth laughed. "Night Henry," he called.

"Carlton." Henry smiled as he watched them go.

Beth latched onto Carlton's arm as he tried to avoid the puddles, only to have her walk right through them. "Do you have to do that! You're going to get mud all over my clean car."

"Carly it's a car, you can get it washed." Hearing him growl, she sighed as she avoided puddles. "Happy now?"

"A little, although you're putting newspaper down for your shoes."

"Fine!" She huffed as they got to the car. Waiting until Carlton got the newspaper, she got in.

* * *

><p>As they were watching the news a couple hours later, Beth sighed and took his hand. "I made a decision this afternoon."<p>

Yawning, Carlton looked towards her, "Oh yeah?"

"Yep." She paused as she played with his hand. "About you and me."

"Really? Do I get any say in the matter?"

Laughing, she finally looked at him. "Of course, but I'm pretty sure that you'll agree."

"Okay, fire away. What have you decided?" He brushed her unruly hair off her forehead.

"Well, one of my favorite Bible verses, and I'm paraphrasing here, says: 'For everything there is a season, a time and a place.' It's from Ecclesiastes."

"Yeah, I know it."

"Yeah, well. I think that right now, we're just meant to be friends because that's what I really need right now, a friend. If it's meant to turn into something more, then it will but I'm very content with just being friends."

Nodding, he squeezed her hand. "I'm fine with being just friends."

"What about friends with benefits?" She said suggestively.

Shaking his head, Carlton got off the couch. "No. Now I'm going to bed. Alone."

Sighing, Beth got up as well. "I was just messing with you! You still need to loosen up. Oh, and that reminds me. Evan has me on the schedule for Wednesday and Friday nights, so be prepared to dress nice tomorrow."

Groaning, Carlton checked the locks on the front door. "You're going to make me get up around 4 tomorrow and then hang out at a pub until 10 o'clock at night! When am I suppose to sleep?"

Laughing, Beth dragged him down the hall, releasing him at his door. "Right now! You should be able to get at least 7 hours tonight and then you can take a nap tomorrow before your shift."

"Fine. Good thing I have Thursday off." He grumbled as he entered his room.

"Good night Carly!" She called through the door. Getting a growl in response, she laughed as she entered her own room.


	28. Chapter 28

_**CHAPTER 28**_

Thursday morning, Carlton groaned as his alarm started beeping. They didn't get home until almost midnight after Beth's gig and he was all for sleeping in since it was his day off. That is, until he remembered why he set his alarm in the first place. Dragging himself out of bed, Carlton threw on his robe as he went to start the coffee maker while he showered.

20 minutes later, he was enjoying his coffee and a bowl of cereal as Beth trudged in. "Good Morning," He greeted as he watched her completely ignore him and prepare her own breakfast.

Slumping into the chair next to him, she mumbled "Morning," before starting on her cereal. Chuckling, Carlton went back to his own meal.

When he was about to get up to refill his coffee mug, Beth prevented him from doing so by putting her arm on his shoulder. He waited for her to speak as she examined his outfit.

Finally, she asked, "Where are you going? I thought that you have the day off?"

"I do," He nodded. "I just have to stop into work to check on a few things."

"No you don't, you're lying."

Sighing, Carlton gently took her arm off him. "I promise that I'll be back for lunch, okay? Then we can go look for photo albums or frames or do whatever else you want to do today, okay?"

"Fine. You know where to find me. Although my car should be fixed today, so I might call Henry to give me a ride to go get it."

"Okay," Standing up, Carlton picked up his bowl and mug.

When he came back with his coffee, Beth was looking dejectedly into her cereal as she stirred it. Nudging her shoulder, Carlton said, "Hey. I have my phone on and can be here in 15, 20 minutes if needed, okay?"

"Yeah." She gave him a big, fake smile. "Go have fun doing your job. I'll probably just look up new songs."

Pulling on his jacket, he headed for the door. "Alright, see you later."

"Bye," Beth whispered as he left.

* * *

><p>Carlton felt bad for lying to Beth as he made his way back home around noon. While he was technically doing something for his job, he wasn't checking on things. He was called up to testify against Fred this morning. The Persecutor was to the point, asking him to relate what happened each time he was there to protect Beth. The Defense didn't have much to add, except to question his relationship to Beth, which he explained as strictly platonic.<p>

Shawn was called up after him to talk about the attempted vehicular homicide and kidnapping. He got some heat about not predicting it, being a psychic and all, but was able to talk his way around it. The court was to reconvene the following morning, when the jury and judge would give their verdicts.

When Carlton pulled into hi driveway, he noticed that Beth's car was on the street. Taking a detour before going inside, he examined the body work and was impressed to not see a single scratch and that they matched the color exactly. Entering the house, he found Beth sitting on the couch. "So, what type of pizza did you get?" He said as he put his briefcase and jacket down before joining her.

Smiling, she opened the lid. "Chicken and veggies with half bbq sauce since I know you didn't like it last time. You have great timing. I got back about 5 minutes ago and was debating whether or not to call you."

"Good thing I didn't stop to chat with O'Hara then." He said as he loosened his tie and took a slice.

Leaning against him, Beth started working on her own slice. They ate in silence until most of the pizza was gone.

Licking his fingers, Carlton wrapped an arm around her. "So, anything in particular that you want to do today?"

"The gun range?" She asked sweetly. "Come on, I got the okay to take the brace off yesterday."

Groaning, he rubbed his forehead. "If I take you, will you let it go for a while?"

Sitting up, she smiled, "Is that a yes?"

"Depends on your answer to my question." He tried to keep his amusement at bay.

"Yes, I won't bug you about it again for at least a week."

Laughing, Carlton shook his head. "Then yeah, let's go."

Squealing, Beth tackled him in a hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Wow, I've never seen anyone other than myself this excited about firing a weapon."

Punching his shoulder, she stood up. "Well, who wants to be like everyone else? Come on, let's go." She started dragging him to the door.

"You might want to at least change into tennis shoes, since sandals won't give you much traction for the kick back."

Groaning, she let him go as she ran to her bedroom. Shaking his head, Carlton put the rest of the pizza into the fridge.

* * *

><p>"The State of California hereby sentences Fredrick Nell Jackson to 10 years in a state prison with the possibility of parole after 5. The request to be transferred to Ohio has been denied and will be looked at in a year's time. Case dismissed."<p>

Hearing the gravel bang, Carlton let out the breath that he hadn't even realized that he was holding. He looked over at Henry who nodded before getting up and leaving. Buttoning his jacket, Carlton was halfway to the door when Kevin Jackson caught up to him.

"Detective? May I have a few words?" He asked hesitantly.

Glaring at the man, Carlton nodded before leading him to a quiet corner in the hallway. Crossing his arms, he said curtly, "You've got 2 minutes. Go."

Twisting his hands, Kevin looked him straight in the eyes. "I was just wondering how Beth is doing."

"She's fine, moving on with her life as best she can."

"Well, can you tell her that I am so sorry. I had no idea that Fred was capable of everything he did until I heard your testimony. I'm sorry that she had to go through all that, and I hope that she would forgive me for not seeing the signs."

Carlton glared at the man a little longer before taking a step forward. "If I find out that your brother tries to contact her again, I will hunt him down like the animal he is. Are we clear?"

"Ye-yes sir."

"Good." Straightening his jacket, Carlton said, "Beth has only told Amy and Susie what happened, so I would appreciate it if you would respect her wishes. Make something up if you have to as to why your brother's in jail, but don't bring her name into it. She doesn't want people to treat her differently, got it?"

"Yes, of course. I would never do anything to hurt her."

"Good, I'm glad that we've got that straightened out. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to get back to work." Carlton pushed past him on his way out the building.

He was halfway across the parking lot when he noticed Beth sitting on his car. She was wearing a dress and had her shoes off. Fingering his keys, he went over and sat next to her. "Hey. What are you doing here?"

Staring across the parking lot, she sighed, "I thought I could do it."

"Do what?"

Sniffling, she looked at him, "Watch him get sentenced. But then I chickened out."

"How'd you get here? I don't see your car."

"Henry gave me a ride. I was 5 feet from the courtroom when I changed my mind. He's waiting by the truck for when I'm ready to go."

Carlton looked around and saw Henry leaning against his truck, reading the newspaper.

They sat in silence until she quietly asked, "What was the verdict?"

"10 years, 5 for good behavior and won't get the chance to transfer to Ohio until next year."

Nodding, Beth was about to get off the car when something caught her eye. Before he could stop her, she took off. Quickly following, he managed to intervene before things got difficult.

"Excuse me, I'm Head Detective Carlton Lassiter, SBPD, can you give her a few minutes?"

One of the guards reluctantly nodded before letting Beth get within 3 feet of Fred. Fred smiled as he tried to take a step forward only to have one of the guards pull him back. "Hey Bethie! I haven't seen you all week. I would have thought that you would be front and center for this little circus."

Taking a deep breath, she glared at him. "I won't pretend that what we had for those couple of years wasn't special, because it was. But you hurt me Fred. Physically and emotionally. And now you get to pay for your sins. I just want to say that I forgive you and hope that you'll see the errors of your ways. Maybe ask Jesus for forgiveness."

"Why would I do that? I didn't do anything wrong, just following the bible."

Carlton growled and took a step forward only to have Beth put a hand on his chest. She shot him a look before turning back to Fred, "If that's what you want to believe, then so be it. But I don't have to agree with you. I don't ever want to see you again, so don't try and contact me. Your chapter in my life is closed, and I don't want to revisit it. Goodbye Fred."

She kissed him on the cheek before taking Carlton's hand and walking away, ignoring Fred's yells of her never getting over him.

When they got to his car, Beth leaned up against it and took some deep breaths. Carlton looked over and noticed that Henry was no longer pretending to read the paper. He seemed just as ready as Carlton to come to Beth's aid if Fred had tried anything.

Opening her eyes, Beth smiled at him. "I should probably let you get back to work. Don't want you to be late for my gig tonight."

"Are you going to be okay?" Carlton asked as he placed both of his hands on her shoulders.

Nodding, she said, "I will be now. Like I told Fred, I need to end that chapter in my life and move on. The first step was forgiving Fred, the next is forgiving myself."

"But you didn't do anything wrong."

"Exactly." She kissed him on the cheek before grabbing her shoes. "I'll see you tonight. I'll be the one up front, under the pretty lights."

"Smartass," Smiling, Carlton watched her get into Henry's truck and drive away, waving at him as she yelled, "Have a good day at work, Carly!"

Shaking his head, Carlton got into his car, knowing Beth was going to be fine and that life was never going to be the same again.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Yay, this is up! Thanks for reading. The sequel, _Carlton Lassiter Goes on Vacation, _is about 3/4 of the way done on Psychfic. I'll probably post what I have on here next week. Reviews and comments are appreciated, especially as I try to think of what to do for my 3rd story. Bye!**


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